Slip
by abrynne
Summary: A turn around of good and evil between Sylar and Peter and the build up to the actual stand off we've all been waiting for. At least I have. Read and enjoy! [See sequel, Time Shift]
1. Chapter 1

Part 1

New York.  
5th and Jefferson was filled with it's usual passersby by the dozens, their minds about their own cares and worries as shoulders brushed, bags and purses knocked into one another in passing, hardly noticing others were there though the large sidewalk filled to the brim with people as it always had in the middle of the day.

One however, remained still though he moved with the crowd, his mind focused, in control – the ultimate power – he watched as he always did with dark eyes beneath thick brows studying each one individually as they walked, taking no notice of his gaze.

On the opposite corner a woman ran up the street towards the intersection, her bag flailing at her side, her shoes clattering on the hard pavement with each stride. She slowed to a walk at the corner and stopped at the back of a gathering crowd waiting to cross the street to catch her breath.

He tilted his head slightly at the sight of her. She was not beautiful per se but interesting. She held a fuller figure which was complimented, not accentuated by the clothes she wore; a soft pink blouse, a cream jacket and light gray slacks that belled at her ankles and widened over her shoes. Her hair was put up away from her face but there were short frizzies and fly aways that appeared to never be under her control.  
The light glowed green and the crowd, as though a single minded entity moved forward to cross the street. The woman was one of the last to step off the curb.  
SNAP!

It sounded like a firecracker underneath her and she fell, her ankle twisting beneath her. Her arms and hands automatically flung themselves behind her to brace herself for the impact but none would come. At long last she decided to risk opening her eyes and found that she was looking up into deep brown eyes. They warmed her as she stared at them.

"If you could help me a little, I'd appreciate it." He said, his voice boyish but not of a boy. He smiled at her as she realized the position they were in.  
He held her under her arms barely keeping her butt off the ground, her shoulders and jacket were bunched around her neck and her legs sprawled out in front and beneath her.  
"Um," he spoke again, "I'm not sure how long I'm going to last in this position."

She twisted her body around on her tangled feet, grabbing his shoulder for support she managed to pull herself up to a standing position and stumbled into him as he helped her back onto the sidewalk. Oh, she was special. He could feel it as he touched her. The tips of his fingers tingled with the anticipation of her power.

"Sorry." She muttered as she looked at her feet to find the cause of her stumbling.  
"Dammit!" she said as she looked at her foot.

Her shoe was scraped up and the heel was missing. But more importantly, yet she hardly took notice, was her ankle was beginning to look puffy and swollen.  
He followed her gaze and could see the bruising begin to form on her foot and ankle. He kept going and saw the small heel of her shoe resting on the edge of the curb.  
"Are you alright?" he said though he knew very well what the answer would be.

She looked fully at him then, her eyes a bright, striking blue – the hot center of a flame. The shock of it made him lose his purpose for a moment – but only just.  
She nodded but still looked flustered at her shoe, which she now held in her hand. For a small second he released her, miraculously balancing on her own as he retrieved the heel.  
Her mutterings continued as he took the shoe gently from her, it looking small in his hand, as she leaned on his shoulder for balance. Examining the break closely he could see how simple the break was as the shoe wasn't as well made as it could have been in the first place.

"It's just on the seam here, it looks like." He said softly.  
"I can get it fixed?" she said, looking disbelieving at her shoe he held.

He glanced up, braving her eyes once again, and managed a sheepish look, "I can fix it for you if you like. My work shop is just down the street." He cocked his head in the general direction of his shop.  
"I don't want to be any more trouble to you – " she said sincerely, shaking her head.  
"I'd be happy to if you're not in a rush." He said with a small smile.

She hesitated for a moment, looking in the direction she had been heading and back to the man who was supporting half of her weight and sighed.  
"There's no point to it now anyway since I can't walk right?" she shrugged as he nodded and mimicked her shrug and allowed him to lead her down the street.

"I hope it wasn't important." He said after they had made a somewhat comfortable arrangement. His arm was wrapped around her waist, hers around his shoulders as the limped together down the sidewalk, the crowds of people kindly leaving a bit of a path for them when they saw she was injured.

"Not really," she said in between steps, "I was supposed to meet someone but he'll have to understand when I tell him what happened." She looked sidelong at him and smiled.  
He heard her heart beat deepen and felt her eyes looking at him though he kept his on the path ahead of them. A pink tint shaded his neck and cheeks but he said nothing.  
After a slow effort up the street he pointed to a corner, "It's just around here."

"Good, you won't have to put up with my weight for much longer." She joked though she knew he was stronger than he looked. She even felt as though her weight was lighter on him than she knew it should be.  
They reached the corner and a few paces later they were standing together on a stoop to an older building. It looked to her as though it had been gutted, refurbished, gutted, and refurbished again and again over the years. At that particular moment she suspected it was going through another gutting stage.

He handed her the key as she was closer to the door lock. After stumbling in the dark room together he laid the broken shoe on the counter top at the front of the room and helped her onto it as well, his hands lifting her at her waist.  
When he touched her she could tell he was a little unnerved by it, by being so close for that period of time. Perhaps it was because she was a stranger. His eyes broke contact with her often and he was so careful and meticulous about his behavior around her, as though he thought several times about an action before actually executing it.

She watched him move around the counter until he was behind her, smooth, precise movements, in search of tools. He turned on a lamp and began rummaging, stalling, as his thoughts calmed themselves.  
He could do it now, no questions asked, nothing to stop him because of how perfect his ploy had been. She completely trusted him at this moment and that was always the key. His mind had become accustomed to the rhythm of her heartbeat – steady, confident – perhaps that was why he was hesitating. Why? There was always the small thought that haunted him before the kill, always. But this was not like the other times somehow. He would fix her shoe and then what?

Perhaps it was her scent that he only just then had come to notice, soft and airy, like an early morning after a night of rainfall. Then there was her words, sincere, flirtatious even. He didn't know what to make of it so he would be patient for now.

The room was dim despite the lamp he'd turned on. Sunlight from outside poured into the thin windows creating slits of light reflecting off of the dust that was in the air. It was small mostly because of the rows of endless clocks that lined the walls. Some were large and took up the full vertical space of the wall, others were small and delicate, easily able to fit into her hand. Along the edge of the counter were dozens of wrist and pocket watches, some were ring watches – not one of them like another.  
She had noticed the soft ticking and clicks as she came into the room and was relieved to find out what it really was as her eyes explored the room.

"Did you fix these, or restore them?" she said, pointing about the room.  
He came back around the counter, "I made them." He said softly, "Some are my father's work as well." he picked up the broken shoe to begin his work.  
"Wow." She said quietly impressed. "They're all lovely." She looked at him with surprised respect but he only stare at her blankly for a moment.  
Her smile faded, "You don't think so?"

He didn't answer right away, his dark eyes searching for a hint of farce, a glimmer of deception in her.  
He found none.

"No – no," he stammered a little, "I don't think anyone's ever told me that before."  
"That's disappointing." She said, "I don't think I know a single person who could do anything like this. They're pieces of art – only functional."

She slid along the counter, closer to where he worked, "Will you tell me your name?" she said.  
He fixed her with his stare once more, only there was a hint of uncertainty in his eyes.  
"It's better story telling rather than 'the guy who fixed my shoe'" she said.

He still said nothing, though his mind was frantic.  
"I'm Ellen. People call me Ellie." She said encouragingly.

He hesitated still until it spilled out of him before he could stop it, "Gabriel." He said.  
"Thank you, Gabriel." She looked around the room again.

"Gabriel, the watch maker."  
"Time piece." He said.


	2. Chapter 2

The front door swung open, nearly flinging it off its hinges as he came in. He didn't think on controlling his powers at the moment as he swaggered into the entry way of the house, his hands in his pockets. His eyes were focused intently on the floor a few paces in front of his feet as he walked, though he wasn't thinking about what he saw. Making his way to his brother's office he allowed the door to creek open in front of him and fell into a chair in front of the desk.

Nathan Petrelli hardly glanced up from his occupation to acknowledge his brother's brooding entrance, though he knew full well he'd end up addressing it eventually and decided to cut to the chase.

"You're back early, aren't you?" he observed, still not looking up from his desk.

Peter let out a sarcastic laugh but said nothing, folding his arms over his chest as he stretched out in the stiff chair.

Nathan then looked at him fully as he slowly came to a conclusion in his mind. He tried not to smile. "She didn't show up?" he asked innocently but Peter would have none of it.

"I can read your mind, you know." He grumbled back.

"Incredibly unethical. I may have some great state secret I'd have to kill you over if you knew." Nathan replied automatically.

Peter decided to avoid the argument that could follow after a statement like that. His mind was tired. His shoulders slumped a little and he leaned forward in the chair.

"No, she didn't." he said simply.

Nathan reclined in his chair and sighed, eyeing his younger brother for a few moments before deciding what to say, "There's a rule you know. This stuff," he waved his hand vaguely in the air as though swatting slow moving imaginary flies, "inevitably happens to every human being at least once in their adult life. There's rejection and acceptance, disappointment and love."

Peter pursed his lips and shook his head, "So this," he waved his hand in front of him as Nathan had done, "has happened to you before?" he knew the answer but waited for Nathan to admit it.

Nathan paused, his wisdom flushed down the toilet. His gaze strayed to the book shelves along the wall and above Peter's head as he thought of something to say besides the obvious answer. "No." he said finally, "I was only trying to make you feel better."

"This would have been my _first_ date since Simone and she doesn't even show up. What is that supposed to tell me?"

Peter's recently found belief in signs, fate, and destiny was obviously not limited to the powers he possessed. Nathan had come to admire that about him and wish that he could have more sheer faith in things the way his brother did. But as it was obviously being shown, it did have its setbacks.

He sighed, "Nothing. It tells you absolutely nothing, Peter." He stood up and stretched. "There could be a hundred reasons why she didn't come." He continued, "She could have been held up at work - "

"She works nights."

"She could have been involved in some kind of accident on the way – "

"I was told she'd be walking from her building to meet me."

Nathan glared at him for a moment, "Or," he smiled mischievously, "She could very well have shown up, taken a gander at you and left."

Peter didn't laugh or scowl in response to his undeniable cheek. Instead he hung his head a little and seemed quite intent on examining his fingernails. Nathan's wind was lost a little at the lack of any sort of reaction to his stale sense of humor but he pushed the thought to the back of his mind. Peter was thoroughly disturbed by this small experience as insignificant as it would have appeared to another person.

Nathan sat in a chair next to Peter and patted him on the knee, determined to sound as sincere as he felt, "This is one girl, Peter, one time. Don't let it define the rest of your future with women because most will tell you that it cannot be predicted no matter what role fate happens to play.  
"Whatever reason she had for not coming does not matter. Someday you will find the one who will show up for you. All you can do right now is tap into your hope, which I know you have quite a bit of, and be persistent, and patient."

"I thought I had found her already." Peter mumbled, running his fingers through his dark hair.

"Perhaps you did, and perhaps not. I'm just telling you right now that you shouldn't give up on yourself. It's not fair to those of us who refuse to do so."

Peter gave him a small smile which Nathan returned before patting him on the back and returning to his desk. He wouldn't be able to explain the actual importance of his meeting to Nathan, he would refuse to understand as he always had. This was more necessary to Peter than meeting the love of his life, his soul mate, or whatever else anybody called their other half.

In a way however, since he never did see her as he had planned Nathan was probably right. He should forget about it and move on.

Deciding he was too preoccupied to stay indoors, Peter went back outside for a walk and perhaps a little flying as well to clear his head. He stuffed his hands in his pockets as he headed out without thinking on the direction he was heading.

It took more than some fresh air to clear his mind, he soon realized. He automatically began thinking of his dreams of late. They had been worsening over the past week though as frequent and confusing as they were to him he did not consider them nightmares. Because of them, whether asleep or awake, he knew every inch and detail of her face, a face he had expected to see as he sat, waiting to meet her. He had also believed that he would also be a witness to a part of his dream come to life before his eyes.

But she didn't come.

He'd seen her face so many times – a sad face with a mouth that relaxed into a small frown, eyes that pierced him to his very heart as though she could know the very depths of his being by merely looking at him.

Peter Petrelli feared those eyes yet he longed to see them. Just once he would like to know of any kind of stability in his future – any at all. For a reason not even known to him he believed – he _knew_ those eyes could show him that.

Yet she never came.

His hand twitched at his side as he walked when the images of her came to mind. He pushed it away, brushing his hair out of his eyes. He would not draw her again. He _would not_. Not until he could see her and perhaps make some small sense of himself as well. Realizing where he was, he instinctively looked up. Claire's apartment was only a few blocks away – Nathan, with a little push from Peter, had insisted on keeping her close by and cared for since she had no other family left. He was her father after all.  
Without a second thought, Peter continued down the street. This was all her fault anyway.

"Is it finished already?" she said, watching him hold her shoe, now in one piece, and examine it closely for anything he may have missed. If that were possible despite his working quickly.

His work pace had quickened due to her questions. She was naturally curious about him and he found that he was about her, though he never replied with a question of his own during their stunted conversation.

Normally, Gabriel had come to be at ease lying to people he was a stranger to or only acquainted with, rarely using his name, making up vague and innocent stories about his past in order to gain a person's trust. It worried him that with Ellen, this woman who's power he knew to be so great that he could smell it on her, he was not comfortable making up falsehoods to satisfy her questions which is why his answers were short, vague, and not very informative as she had hoped them to be.

Did he always live in New York? He'd grown up in Queens.  
She was from upstate.

Did he always know he wanted to be a watch maker? …Yes.  
Her mother had wanted her to become a physician, someone with incredible accomplishments.  
Ellen was a singer.  
She had trouble merely watching hospital dramas on television though all of the injuries and results of infections were not real.

Gabriel agreed that he didn't like the sight of blood either but at times it was necessary for doctors to find solutions of course. The smell of it was worse anyway.

The shoe was finished, he found that he'd done a thorough job but couldn't be certain at how long it would last because of the quality of the shoe itself. He smiled shyly, sincerely, and handed it to her. The brush of her warm fingertips on his hands as she took the shoe from him tingled on his skin and faded.

"Thank you, Gabriel." She said as she accepted it from him.

The use of his name normally unnerved and upset him, even when his mother had spoken it yet he hardly felt a glimmer of that when it was in Ellen's voice. He hadn't wanted to tell her yet it was forced from him by a power he never knew was inside him.

She unknowingly gleaned the truth from him without any effort at all and he couldn't keep it from her. It frightened him.

He watched the shoe slip easily back onto her foot. She was leaving, leaving him. Gabriel thought frantically, his control slipping as she moved off of the counter and onto her feet again. The foot belonging to the once broken shoe, lifted gingerly off the floor and set gently down again as she stood on it.

"Better than new." She was saying.

He quickly moved forward to her but spoke calmly, "You probably shouldn't be standing so soon." His mind was a mess of thoughts, continually questioning what he was doing.

"Did it need to set up first or something?" she scrambled to get the shoe off her foot.

"No, no, um," he said but stopped in mid sentence as rose to look at him again. Her eyes bore into him until his insides screamed for him to be rid of her. A lock of hair slipped out of her clip and fell against her face as she looked at him. She was concerned. Concerned for _him_. He could not fathom anyone looking like that for his well being.

"Gabriel," she said and stepped closer to him.

He didn't respond but lifted his hand to her and brushed the hair away with strong fingers. The touch of her skin mesmerized him and he could not find the cause. He pushed her hair back but his hand lingered there, barely touching her cheek.

Ellen smiled despite herself. There were oddities about him. In many ways he was like a child; quiet, innocent, allowing the world to pass him by as he stayed in his workshop. She found it endearing and accepted his touch.

She put her hand over his. Her deliberate contact with him seemed to pull him back to her.

"Are you alright?" she said quietly as his eyes refocused on her own.

In a panic, he jerked his hand away from her muttering a barely audible apology and held his arms stiffly at his sides as he spoke, "I meant to say," he said carefully, "Your ankle looks like it may be sprained, you probably shouldn't walk on it right away."

Ellen examined her ankle. The bruising was spreading though the swelling wasn't too bad. Gabriel took the break from her gaze and looked at his hand, his eyes flitting back and forth from it to Ellen.

"I can put some ice on it when I get home." She said.

Gabriel thought on this for a moment. She should go. She needed to go. A voice in his head bellowed over the storm of broken thoughts. She is distracting, making you thoughtless. Her power can wait for now. Let her go.

He hesitated as the ongoing battle inside his mind strengthened due to Ellen's presence. He would have her stay and do no harm to her – for now. But she did need to leave if not for her own sake than for his. He had already lost his control once. But if she stayed – he so wanted her to and for that reason alone she had to go.

"At least," he took her hand bravely, "let me walk you home."

Ellen smiled, relieved. He was very handsome with lovely dark eyes and a kind smile but she had only just met him and he was rather standoffish. At any rate, she found it difficult to believe that someone living in the middle of New York could be that simple in his ways.


	3. Chapter 3

With a small lift in the air, Peter flew above the ground a few feet in the alley way to reach the fire escape ladder. He'd rather not be seen going to see Claire as often as he did, mostly for her protection as her foster father, Mr. Bennett had requested.

Peter climbed the rest of the way up to Claire's window which stood open. Peter stepped onto the small window seat inside and sat down to wait, probing around the immediate vicinity for a thought from Claire's mind or a hint of her voice.

_Five minutes faster than last time…_ he heard her as she climbed the stairwell and entered onto her floor.

_Ugh! I've got to cut my hair. It's too long for how warm it's getting._

The key was placed into the lock outside and Peter watched the door open.

_I hope I have some ice cream left._

She'd been out for a run as Peter had figured. Her hair was pulled back in a pony tail that bobbed over the back of her neck. He watched as she turned and started at his presence, ignoring the shock of curses she automatically thought.

"Hey," she said as she turned off her MP3 player that was strapped to her arm.

Peter forced a small smile and returned her greeting.

_He's angry at me._ She thought.

He immediately tried to relax his face out of the solemn expression he knew it held.

"What is it?" she said.

He wanted to glare at her but found that he couldn't even with all the power he possessed. Her young face, matted in sweat from her run looked innocently back at him, concerned for him.

"I went to meet her today, just as you said." Peter spoke lightly.  
_Oh no!_

"What happened?" Claire sat down next to him on the window seat.  
Peter then scowled in general.

"She stood you up?" she sad disbelieving as she stood back up, ripped off her MP3 player and tossed it at him as she went into her bedroom, "But she would have called me if something had happened. I know she would have, Peter." Her voice trailed out from her room.

It gave him a little satisfaction at how Claire had reacted. Peter smiled to himself as she was in the bedroom searching for her phone.

_What could it have been? Rehearsal? She would have called me. Sick? She would have called me.  
Where is my freaking phone?!_

Claire came back into the room reflecting Peter's scowl on her face but her phone was in her hand. There were no messages on it.  
She sank back down next to him on the window seat, "I know something happened, Peter. She's not the kind of person to just not show up."

_She tends to be late, though._

The satisfaction Peter felt at Claire being so flustered quickly melted away as he saw and heard how frustrated she was at her friend. It wasn't her fault and he knew it. But he couldn't help smiling at the thoughts of _I'm gonna kill her!_ that continued to creep into Claire's mind.

She looked at him and saw him smiling. At first she went over what she had said that he might have found amusing until she realized what she was thinking. "Get out of my head, will you?" she smiled and nudged him gently, "You promised you wouldn't do that."

"Sorry," Peter said.

"No you're not." She replied as she picked up her phone again to call her friend with no objection and no denial from Peter.

The awkward pair of them were nearly to her apartment building, Gabriel handling most of her weight by that time. His arm held firm around her waist, hers along his back – they limped down the street, her outside hand on his shoulder for further support and she clutched onto his jacket off and on when she thought she was going to stumble.

The pain in her ankle was getting worse and she was relying more and more on him for support. But he was patient and kind every step they went, slowing down or stopping when she needed to, telling her to fall against him if she felt a loss of balance.

They were at the street corner ready to cross when a soft chiming came from the recesses of her bag that had slid down and dangled from her elbow. Without a thought, Ellen instinctively released her supporter who moved right with her as she stumbled and searched her bag for her phone.

Gabriel guided her back up the sidewalk until she was safely leaning against the brick wall of a building along the street. He stood close by, his ears pricked – allowing him to listen to both ends of the conversation.

Ellen answered the phone and a female voice on the other end seemed to have no want for useless phone banter, "Ellie? Where have you been?"

Gabriel watched her sigh, "I know, I know. Tell him I'm sorry! You won't believe what happened to me on the way." She smiled knowingly at Gabriel.

"Where are you?" the voice sounded calmer to him.

"I'm standing across the street from my building. Listen – I'll tell you what happened if you just listen for a minute – " She looked at Gabriel and mouthed _I'm sorry_ to him about the phone call. He shook his head for her not to worry.

"I was running towards 5th – "

"Why were you running?"

"Because I was a little late."

She explained each event as innocent as it had happened to her friend who stayed silent and listened. Gabriel found he was a little preoccupied during the explanation. He was trying to place where he'd heard that girl's voice before. It was incredibly familiar to him.

"I know! Isn't that sweet of him?" Ellen was saying. "He's walking me home now. I've got to put my foot up. It feels like it's about to fall off."

"What about Peter?" the voice said over the phone.

Gabriel tensed and swallowed – Peter Petrelli. If it was he, Gabriel easily placed the woman's voice as well – Claire Bennett. Of all the people she was going to meet in New York, Ellen was going to meet Peter Petrelli. Gabriel's hands clenched into fists, his vision reddened. He had lusted after their powers for so long and was still disappointed to the point where he had left the city for a time. His jaw clenched at the thought of them and he glared at the ground, his control slipping and the heat building up inside of him.

"Please tell him I'm sorry! If he wants to try it again I'd be happy to and I promise I'll be there." Ellen said, her eyes falling on Gabriel. She put her hand on his shoulder and he looked at her. Her bright eyes were slightly worried due to his expression.

No. He would not harm Ellen.  
Gabriel nodded, saying he was alright and closed his eyes to regain his composure.

"Okay," Claire said, "Get some ice on it. I'll see you later." She hung up and looked at Peter who could also hear the entirety of the conversation.

"Sprained ankle." She said.

"And she ended up meeting another guy." Peter rolled his eyes thinking how stupid he could have been to have thought this was the woman he'd been so anxious to see.

"It's kind of romantic, isn't it?" Claire smiled.

"Oh yeah," Peter said running a hand over his face, "It's almost like it was planned – " he stopped and cocked his head to the side as he thought.

"Do you know if she's like us, Claire?"

Claire looked puzzled, "Ellie? I never thought to ask. It's not really something that comes up in regular conversation, 'So, how about this weather? Oh, and by the way you don't happen to have any supernatural abilities you didn't tell me about before?'"

"Alright, alright," Peter hated it when Claire pinned him on something stupid he had said, "it was just a feeling."

Claire eyed him for a minute knowing full well that she may not have the ability but Peter could never keep anything he was feeling from her. "This doesn't have anything to do with that woman, does it?"

By "that woman" Peter knew Claire meant the woman he'd seen in his dreams. Claire was the only one who knew of her. He hadn't even told Nathan. But he didn't answer her knowing that she'd come to the conclusion on her own rather quickly.

She sighed, "Peter, you know you can't force fate." She said.

Peter nodded, "I know, but that wasn't what I meant exactly."

Claire thought again, her eyes studying every line of his face until they widened and she stood up in front of him, her body tensed, "He has _not_ come back, Peter." He could have cut glass on her voice, "He knows he's wanted everywhere, why – ?"

Peter looked up at her, his eyes as serious as her voice, "Who? Who is wanted? No one has ever even gotten a photograph of him. All anyone has are inaccurate sketches that could be any man's face.  
"He could easily be back."

Claire pursed her lips trying to think of a response, something that would prove to him that Sylar had not returned but she could not find anything. She knew Peter could be right. "You're just being paranoid. Even if Ellie had any ability she'd probably be dead by now, wouldn't she? You can't say that he doesn't mess around in that area.  
"This guy she met is walking her home as we speak."

She spoke as though she were afraid to speak Sylar's name and Peter couldn't blame her. Sylar had attempted to kill her more than twice for her power. Because Claire lived it meant that Sylar was still foilable. Still mortal. That is, until he managed to find someone else who also possessed her ability. Peter came to a decision then.

"Where is her apartment?"

Claire studied him suspiciously for a moment and didn't answer.

"Don't worry, I won't let them see me." He said.

Claire gave him the directions to Ellen's home and as soon as she spoke Peter stepped out of the window onto the fire escape. Claire watched him disappear before her worried eyes.

"There's no harm in checking it out." His voice spoke from outside the window but she saw nothing.

"Be safe." She said as she heard a rush of air as he took off into the sky. Her eyes looked up as though she could follow his path, though she could see nothing and she felt a prick of envy towards him. She would give anything to be able to hide whenever she wanted.

Peter could only have real peace in the skies where there were no minds, no voices he could hear. He drank it in, allowing himself to drift for a while over the cityscape until he saw the street Claire had described, a park on one side and several buildings pushed closely together on the block across the street.

He began his decent and landed on the roof of a building on the corner of the block. Watching and listening closely he saw the small people on the street as they walked getting bits of conversation as they passed below him. Still invisible, Peter leaped off the roof and floated down to the street below in between the buildings. His mind and ears remained alert for any hint of a familiar voice.

_…there'd be no harm, he's rather gentlemanly anyway_

Peter leaned forward a bit and listened closely, his back to the wall of the building.

"Are you sure you're alright?" a woman as saying, "I'm truly amazed you survived." She laughed brightly.  
_Thank the stars you were there._ She thought.

"Don't worry about me." A man replied in a soft voice, a voice Peter knew very well.  
Peter started and peered around the corner to the front of the building. Sylar. He was helping a dark haired woman Peter assumed to be Ellen up the stairs of the building one at a time. He was smiling and helping her as though he'd been a Good Samaritan every day of his life!  
He stood on the sidewalk, blinking in shock at the scene before him.

_…ask him to come up already!_ Peter heard her think to herself.

He wanted to rip her out of his grasp right then but he couldn't move. The sheer bafflement of Sylar actually or maybe even pretending to care about another human being had him, Peter, standing dumbfounded glued to his spot on the sidewalk a few meters from the stairs. There had to be a motivation for him.

Gabriel boosted her to the last step in front of the door before climbing up next to her.  
"Thank you." She said taking his hand and squeezing it gratefully in her own. "I'm so sorry about that."

Gabriel's brow furrowed, confused, "What?"  
"Falling on you." She said smiling, her cheeks blushing slightly from embarrassment.  
_I had to have at least cracked one of your ribs._

He watched Sylar smile at her, his eyes were warm rather than the sheer cold, relentless eyes Peter was familiar with. "I told you not to worry about me."  
_I'm not worth the concern._

_Ask him now! You actually got him to smile._

Ellen opened her mouth but Gabriel was ready. He needed to be alone – without her for a while as unfair as that seemed to a part of him.  
"Have a good evening, Ellie." He said softly, pulling his hand from hers.

"You too." She said not realizing Peter could hear her inward curses. No wonder she and Claire were friends. Their behavior was quite alike.

_I don't have a phone number or anything. I know where he works. Something…anything…anything..._  
"I told you the name of the club where I perform, right?" she was at the end of her rope and she knew it.

_Get out of here._ He thought _She is like a poison that can't kill but will claim my life._  
"Club Maroon." He said.

"Right." She leaned against the railing of the stairway, "Thanks so much for everything, Gabriel."

Before he or Peter could react she leaned in and kissed him on the cheek and opened the door to her building.

At first, Peter wasn't aware that his mouth was hanging open.  
Gabriel looked almost as shocked, "Goodbye." He muttered. _I can never see her again._

It sounded sad to Peter, regretful. He wasn't sure how much more he could take of this. It was like a different person had possessed Sylar's body.

Gabriel watched her shut the door and stood there on the stoop, apparently alone, the kiss burning on his cheek. He walked down the stairs after a minute or so, his fingers brushing his face where she'd kissed him.

_Never again._ He reassured himself.

Peter watched as he stepped off the curb but stopped suddenly and turned on the spot. There had been another heartbeat, another breath close by the entire time. Sylar knew it to be human. He had only just noticed it and looked through Peter but knew for certain that someone was there, very close, and he had a pretty shrewd idea as to who it was.

Sylar breathed slowly, relaxing, his confidence regained, "I can't see you but I know you're there," he lowered his voice to a deadly whisper, "I know you can hear me."

Peter instinctively backed away and saw the smile that was familiar to him appear on Sylar's face. The smile did not reach his eyes, which remained hard and cold. He'd heard his footstep.

The heartbeat was faster from the anticipation of what would happen. But Gabriel did nothing. He placed his hands in his pockets, turned, and walked back across the street.


	4. Chapter 4

The darkness of the small room hit him like a club and winded him. He stepped in welcomed only by the clicks and ticking of the machines he had made. Gabriel heard the door creak shut, a noise that pierced his ears as he walk around the counter through the dark room and opened another door in the back.

It led to a small apartment – the living room and bedroom appearing to be in the same space. The bed looked as though its owner suffered from restless sleep, the blanket draping onto the floor next to a thin pillow.

He found his way to the old, lumpy, brown chair and fell into it. He leaned forward, resting his head in his hands. Though he rarely slept he felt exhausted. In all of the wildest dreams of the world he would never have fathomed something happening to him that was remotely resembling what he had just experienced.

His entire life he had found that he was automatically closed off to people, feeling more comfortable with his own thoughts and his own way of doing things. He was smart; even as a child his instructors and teachers at school noticed his early blossoming intelligence. Unfortunately, the other children noticed as well and their reactions were not those of praise and admiration as he had received from his elders.

As he'd entered into his adult life, Gabriel had managed to somehow mask, or block those memories and the distractions they caused him. But he found that as he sat there alone old emotions, memories, and thoughts were being drudged up in his mind, even as he'd walked back from Ellen's home.

Ellen. The longing for her powers was still strong in him but unlike the others he'd taken, this time it was being fought and he could not understand why.

It was he who had chosen her out of all of those he'd seen when he watched her running up the street. With a flick of his thought her shoe had broken and she fell.  
Now, he was falling.

Never again. He would never see her again because he would not harm her. He would not. But he wanted to see her – to feel her touch again. The shock of it was still wearing off it had been so long since anyone had touched him in that way – gently, sincerely, as though they cared for him.

He suddenly felt the pain of being alone. He always had been. He, Gabriel Grey, had always been alone until that day when he allowed someone to take him over.

Reckless! Stupidly reckless! He should have killed her right then on the street, no cutting or precision but one swift lift of his hand and her neck would have broken, her body collapsed onto the street in the crowd and they would never know why. Sylar would have been freed before being imprisoned by her.

Gabriel leaned back in the chair, his face to the ceiling. That is what he must do. He would have to now. There was no other way to get things back as they once were than to be rid of her. He was supposed to be alone.

Gabriel got to his feet and went into the little bathroom. His dark eyes stared back at him in the mirror as he leaned on the sink in front of him, his hands gripping the porcelain. They were nothing but empty holes, pitiless vacuums. But she hadn't seen that. What did she see when she looked at him, at his eyes?  
It didn't matter. Soon she would be gone and what belonged to her would be his.

A tear rolled down the cheek of his reflection. With a growl in his throat he struck the man in the mirror with all of his strength. Shards of glass scattered about him, bits cutting into his face and falling to the floor.

Gabriel pulled his fist from the broken mirror, his blood ran down his fingers and wrist, dripping deep red on the white, porcelain sink. The smell then reached him as it always did. Sweet, hot and sticky. Turning his nose up at it, he turned on the faucet and ran the water over his hand, watching the pale red slide down the drain.

It stung him, but he didn't feel it. His eyes drifted back in front of him where the man in the mirror had been. A few pieces of glass still hanged in the frame and reflected his face. Flecks of blood were on his cheeks and forehead where he'd been cut by the broken mirror and they began to drip down his skin. Sylar nodded to himself.

He would go – but not tonight, tomorrow. He would gain what she had to offer and allow her to lead him to Claire Bennett.

He didn't come.  
Ellen had watched from her little stage during both sets of songs and he never came. She ended her last song, _That Old Black Magic_ with no sign of him at any table.

After the last clattering of applause, Ellen took her last bow with a little difficulty, her ankle was still hurting her, and sighed. She moved back stage to her dressing room and closed the door, meeting her own eyes in the reflection of the mirror across the little room. The face was sad under her evening makeup. She probably would never see him again.

Perhaps it was just as well. He had been so aloof before she probably mattered very little to him.  
Cursing herself for getting her hopes up so much she sat in her rickety chair and began removing her makeup whishing she could see those brown eyes with her in her reflection.

There was no mistaking it now. He had found her. On the steps he couldn't get a clear look at her face but now as he sat in a dimly lit corner there was no denying it. The entire evening he couldn't tear his eyes away from her. She was real – and the voice made her yet so unreal to him.

Peter sat at his table still, staring at the empty stage, the chair she'd sat on, the piano sitting silently under the darkened lights.

"You almost finished, honey?" Peter was pulled from his thoughts and looked up lazily at the pretty waitress who stood above him, "We're gonna be closing up soon." She said indicating the drink he hadn't touched all evening.

Muttering what sounded like a "thank you" he stood, throwing some cash on the table and left, taking his coat from the back of his chair. He hadn't forgotten why he'd come there and now that he knew who she was it was that much more important to him that he warn her and protect her if necessary.

He waited outside the club for her to come out, hoping he was doing the right thing. It was very late, but he saw no car waiting for her. Surely she didn't walk home every night.

Peter heard a door open and hushed voices outside.  
"I'll be fine, Craig. I always am." He heard her voice. "I'll see you tomorrow."

Her footsteps echoed on the pavement as she turned the corner opposite Peter and started down the dark street. Perhaps she did see him and pretended not to instinctively to help keep herself safe.

He started after her, wondering what he should say.  
She walked stiffly, prepared to spring if anything caught her off guard.

Peter's walk slowed and Ellen's sped up as he watched her curiously. Each street lamp she walked by whether it was dim or fully lit it flared up to it's brightest in her presence then died down again after she'd passed.

Ellen could hear footsteps not too far behind her but they were steady as though whomever they belonged to wasn't putting forth an effort to not be heard. She wasn't going to take the chance and quickened her pace. The steps were still there but they did not match her.

Ellen groaned. She hadn't had to use it in a while and she didn't plan on starting up again – ever. It was dangerous and that was the bottom line to her. It had taken her such a long time to control it when she was a teenager. There had been a lot of accidents at that time of her life.  
Finally, she decided to give them a full warning first.

Peter saw her stop suddenly. The street light next to her flickered. She looked at him over her shoulder, her hand held in front of her. Her eyes brightened and glowed with an unnaturally blue-white light. Peter stopped as her fingers spread, allowing the current to course in between and around them and the body of her hand.  
It looked to him as though she held a miniature lightning show in her hand. Over and over again it seemed like it was growing but she held control over it, her piercing eyes never faltering as she looked at him. Never had he seen power like that besides what Sylar or even Ted could do. If Peter was guessing right Ellen could actually create and manipulate electric current.

The night was too dark. She couldn't see his face even with the light coming from her. He was just another dark figure out at night but she had made him stop. That should be enough. Ellen closed her fist, lowering her hand and started walking again, her fingers still tingling with the charge.

So, she _could_ take care of herself; that would be a decent conclusion to come to after that little light show Peter witnessed. But he was hesitating, second guessing himself. If he came into contact with her he'd absorb that power as he'd done Nathan's, Claire's, Sylar's and everyone else he'd ever come into contact with, including Ted.

The memory of what had happened came to his mind. He couldn't stop it then and he had to let go finally. If it had not been for Nathan he still would have lived but he'd be more of a murderer than Sylar ever could be.

But this was the woman he was supposed to meet. Even he could not deny the surety of that. She was in danger and had to be warned.  
Peter looked up and saw how far she'd gone. He broke into a run and called her name. Ellen turned around sharply, her fist clenched and bathed in a white glow but she waited. She watched him come into the light of a street lamp and slow down until he reached her.

"_Why_ have you been following me?" she snapped  
_Please don't hurt me…How much money do I have in my purse?_

Peter looked innocently taken aback, his eyes flicking from her face to her hand, the light around it growing in intensity. He held his open hands out in front of him to claim he meant no harm.  
"Ellen, you've got to listen to me. It's very important that you do."

"And _how_ do you know my name?" her other hand began to glow.  
"I'm Peter Petrelli. I was the one you were supposed to meet today." His words fell over each other as the fear of being electrocuted jumped to mind.

Ellen calmed a little, her body relaxing.  
_…cute._ She thought.

Peter did his best to ignore her thoughts and stepped forward. As he did so he felt an uncomfortable tingling in his hands and fingers.

"What is it then?" her tone was still stiff and paranoid.

"The man you met today –"

"Gabriel?"

"Yeah – " he paused, the energy in his hands overpowering him.  
Ellen covered her mouth in shock and stepped backwards. Peter's eyes began to glow as hers had done. Electric current moved and arced up and down his arms, around his back until it was consuming him. She could barely see his face in the light of it.

"You've got to help me!" Peter groaned as he staggered backwards. Jets of light danced about the pavement around him, kissed the walls of buildings and touched on Ellen as she quickly moved towards him into the field Peter had created.  
She found his hands and grasped them in her own, doing what she'd taught herself to do several years before.

"Calm your thoughts Peter." She said, closing her eyes, willing her control over them both.  
The light dimmed in Peter's eyes as he saw the energy transfer to her and back to him again until it faded, shrinking down. The brightness of it dulled until the last of the light was gone from her and the street light overhead blew out.

She released his hands immediately and scowled at him. It was probably a good thing she's missed him that afternoon. He could have blown up the restaurant.

"How the hell did you do that?"  
_He does what I do._ He heard her think.

"Not exactly." He said aloud.

"What?"

"I mean, um, I'm like you. Claire is as well." He scratched the back of his head nervously. "I absorb powers from other people and can use them as my own. Controlling them is a different matter, though."

Ellen raised her eyebrows in mild surprise. "So you can do what I can do now?" she said.

"Looks that way." He smiled helplessly.

"Useful."

Peter shook his head, "and a pain in the ass."  
He stared at her blankly for a minute before realizing what he was there for. "I came to warn you." He continued, "About Sy – Gabriel."

Ellen looked thoroughly confused. "How do you know him?"  
Peter hesitated until he realized there was no other way to say it, "He's tried to kill me more than once. Claire too. He's extremely dangerous."

Much to his frustration, Ellen's reaction wasn't what he had predicted. She started to laugh.  
"Gabriel?" she said smiling, "He didn't even want to swat a fly that had gotten into his shop while I was there."  
_There isn't really a full deck there._  
Peter sighed.  
_..just because I didn't meet him for lunch today. Talk about sensitive and insecure –_

He'd had enough of the annihilation of his character, "He only wants you for your powers, Ellen!"

Ellen became irritated once again, "Then why didn't he just kill me while I was with him today if he's so crazy?"  
Peter opened his mouth to respond but she cut him off.  
"And for the record, Gabriel wasn't the one following me down a dark street so late at night."  
Excellent point, Peter had to conclude.

"Gabriel is one of the kindest men I've ever met. Just because you have some kind of grudge against him or something –"

"He tried to _kill_ me." Peter said.  
_Jeez, talk about jealousy. He's absolutely nuts._

Peter's frustration with her was overflowing, "Look! Will you get over yourself for just a minute." His face was stone serious. Ellen said nothing.

"This has nothing to do with what happened earlier today. This is about him. All he understands is power. He's been after Claire's and mine for a long time. Now he wants yours."

Ellen stared at him. _It's not true._ She told herself.  
"I have no reason to believe you. What you're saying is absolutely outrageous! I can't believe you."

"You don't want to believe me." He studied her for a moment, knowing right then he'd never forgive himself if anything happened to her. "If you do see him tomorrow, I can't stop you. I can only warn you, be careful and _don't_ see him again." He was serious as the grave and he could tell that she was finally taking him that way.

"Okay." She said simply.  
He nodded, "I'm sorry if I scared you before."

Ellen shrugged as he turned to walk back up the street. Ellen stood still under the broken street light.

"Peter." She called.  
He turned to look at her.  
"If he's also like us, what can Gabriel do?"  
"Everything." Peter said and started walking again.

_I have to see him now. This is insane!_ He heard Ellen think to herself again.

"I'll be there, then." Peter muttered to himself as he heard her footsteps become more and more distant.


	5. Chapter 5

The floor was hard and cold against his face. He breathed heavily against it, finding he only wanted to stay there. It was difficult to open his eyes and even when he was able to do so everything looked blurred and hazy for several moments before his vision cleared and he realized where he was. He looked ahead of him and saw the base of the toilet and the sink surrounded in broken bits of glass. The mirror. Gabriel remembered the mirror the evening before. He managed to raise his head. His body was stretched across the bathroom floor, his legs sticking out of the doorway onto the shabby carpet of the living room.

He must have fallen asleep on the floor. After he'd broken the mirror he recalled slumping down to the floor, weighing the decision he'd made. The memories were filtered and scattered in his mind. But he'd never simply dozed off before.

Gabriel winced as he sat up, his hands touched the shards of mirror that were on the floor. Both arms and hands had cuts and scrapes on them. His eyes wandered across the floor seeing the spots of blood across the tile where he'd been cut in his sleep.

Grabbing a larger piece of the mirror off the floor he looked in it. His face hadn't suffered as much as his arms and hands had, though small nicks could be seen on the sides of his face and along his hairline. He tossed the glass aside and rubbed his hands over his face. They were rough and scabbed against his skin. The blood had clotted and caked in the creases of his fingers. As he opened his hands they began to bleed again.

He sat there, his mind tired and blank, blood slowly seeping over his hands.  
The sudden beat of footsteps outside on the sidewalk awoke his senses. He looked up as they reached his front door and there was a knock followed by a voice.

"Gabriel? It's Ellen. If you're here I need to talk to you." She said, "Ow! Damn it!"  
Ellen crouched down rubbing her ankle that she'd wrapped earlier that morning. The pain killers were obviously wearing off and it was giving out on her again.  
"Gabriel?" she knocked again and tried the door knob. It was locked.

He heard further cursings out of her disappointment and stood up, leaning against the door jam to the bathroom. Her feet shuffled off the stoop as she began to slowly walk away.  
Against all of his better judgment, Gabriel closed his eyes and with a twist of his wrist, the front door clicked and creaked open just a crack. Her footsteps stopped. He pictured her turning around, examining the door suspiciously before going back to the stoop and pushing it open.

It obeyed her and she stepped in cautiously. "Gabriel?" she said timidly.

His hands pressed on the wood of the door between them and he listened as she stepped around the counter slowly. He heard her touch the lamp, it lit up brightly to her touch. Blood from his newly opened cuts oozed down his wrists, printing his hands on the door as he listened to her. Her heartbeat was still steady but faster with nerves. Her breathing was deep and slow in her throat, lulling him until he opened his eyes. He breathed against the door.

The front door shut and locked with a sharp snap behind her. She turned with a gasp. Her fingers tingled in the unexpected anxiety but she swiftly snuffed her instinctive reaction out. It must have been a breeze from outside.

"Are you here? Please answer me?" she ran into the counter that held the watches along its edge and she began to take a closer look at them.

Gabriel quickly moved back to the bathroom, careful not to step on anymore glass, and drenched his hands, arms and face in water. He wet his hair until it dribbled down his forehead and did his best to remove the clotted blood only revealing the thin cuts and nicks he'd suffered from breaking the mirror. He threw on a long sleeved shirt and clean pants, throwing his bloodstained clothes into a pile in the corner of the room.

Ellen squinted curiously at a men's silver watch with a large black face. The manufacturer's name read "Sylar" in small silver letters.

"I'm here, Ellen." He said softly behind her.

Ellen turned sharply, letting out a yelp of surprise at how close he'd come to her without being heard. She smiled despite her shock but it faded quickly when she saw the state he was in.

Thin cuts were etched on the sides of his face and his hands were wrapped in bandages to the bases of his fingers.  
"What happened to you? Are you alright?" she said, her hands automatically moving to his face to comfort him but Gabriel grasped both her wrists and lowered her hands from him.

"Mirror broke." He muttered stupidly. "It's nothing."  
Ellen didn't believe him and her expression showed it. "You promise?"

Gabriel nodded, "I promise." He said solemnly and stepped back from her. Her scent had reached him and was fogging his mind against his previous thoughts on her.  
"Why have you come back?" he said.

"I had to talk to you." She said, her eyes were worried, anxious. "I've been told things about you, terrible things. I don't believe them."

Gabriel studied her closely, his ears straining to hear another heartbeat besides Ellen's and his own. Hers was thumping madly in anticipation.  
"But you had to come in order to ease your mind about me anyway." He said, moving past her, his eyes searching the room, all his senses set on catching someone else he believed to be there. He didn't have to ask her who had told her about him, about Sylar. He knew Peter Petrelli had gotten to her. Damn him to all hell!

That nosey little bastard believing it was his sole duty to protect the public at large. She wasn't harmed, was she? It must have confused the hell out of him to see them on the steps together as he did. Gabriel tensed as he continued to think of Peter.

He watched a shade of pink rush to her cheeks and waited patiently as she put her words together, "It got me worried." She said finally.  
Gabriel saw that she was favoring her other leg, her ankle still hurting her, and moved her back to the counter. He helped her to sit on it as he'd done the day before.  
"Why?" he said flatly.

Ellen laughed nervously, her feet kicking slightly as they dangled off the floor, "Well, because – ", she stare at him and he only look back at her without any expression. Even the warmth she'd seen in his eyes had gone.

He stood in front of her, at her knees and waited.  
Sitting on the counter made her eye level with him, closer to him. She bravely gathered her words and continued, "because I like you. I like you very much Gabriel even though I've only spent one afternoon with you.  
The things I was told – " she mimicked him thoughtfully tilting his head as she spoke, "It would just make me feel better if you could tell me the truth about it. If there is any truth in it."

Gabriel felt his throat tighten at the uneasiness he felt but he managed a convincing smile, "Who told you these things?" he said simply as though it were almost a joke.

She returned his smile partly out of relief. "He says he knows you, the guy I was supposed to meet yesterday – Peter Petrelli."  
It grated on him sharply, to hear her speak his name, but he remained composed. He reminded himself that it didn't matter what he told her because she would soon be gone from his life. It didn't matter.

"Yes. Interesting that you were supposed to meet him yesterday. You might say we have a little history together, Peter and I." he heard her heart rate rise a little.

It didn't matter what he said, "You weren't living here at the time but you may remember the reports of a sort of nuclear explosion in the upper atmosphere that took place over New York city some years ago." He waited as she remembered, keeping his face calm though his insides twisted with the memory of that night even after he was laying there on the pavement, half dead.

Ellen's eyes widened as she remembered, "They said it was some sort of military accident. A missile had gotten off course or something like that."

Gabriel was shaking his head – his unease had dissipated by the sheer hatred he had for Peter and his interfering that night.  
"It was Peter." He said quietly.

"What?" she breathed in shock.

"He lost his control – I knew he would and tried to stop it but there were…obstacles."

The memory of the evening before entered Ellen's mind. Peter had no control over her power, she had to help him stop it.

"It was his brother that saved the city actually. He is why Peter didn't go off on the ground."  
Ellen resembled a cod fish, staring in open mouthed disbelief at Gabriel as he spoke.

"He would have killed millions of people." She mumbled, "But how did he survive?"  
Gabriel did his best to keep his expression neutral, "One of the powers he possesses is the ability to regenerate."

The lie was so fantastic, so perfect that it was all Gabriel could do to keep from smiling. He would have given anything to have seen Peter's face had he heard their conversation.

Ellen turned the information over in her mind. From what she saw of Peter what Gabriel said made sense, as far as exploding people go. "Why would he be saying those things about you?"

Gabriel actually laughed, "I suppose he told you I'm a murderer?"  
She nodded as he started to pace in front of her, "I tried to stop him. Ellen, you have to understand that Peter knows he cannot control his powers as I can. He's extremely insecure." He then approached her and brushed a finger across her cheek, "I'm only glad he didn't hurt you." He said.

Ellen smiled and he could see the trust in her eyes as clear as daylight, "I've gotten pretty good at taking care of myself." She said.

"I have no doubt."

She saw the knowing expression on his face and furrowed her brow, "You know what I can do?"

"I could sense it when I first saw you." Gabriel cursed the day in his mind, "I know you have great power, Ellen."

She pulled away from him, her skin tingling from his touch. "Peter said you also have great power. Was that a lie as well?"

Gabriel seemed to look through her but said nothing. Taking his hand from the pocket of his jeans he raised it up to just below his eye level, his fingers spread slightly.  
Ellen felt the chain of the necklace she was wearing stiffen and lift off of her chest until it was perfectly parallel to the floor. It pulled on the back of her neck when she felt the clasp unhook. She watched in amazement as her necklace floated to him and hovered above his hand for a moment before it fell limply into his palm. He examined it as she approached him – a silver chain holding a small amber stone set in silver.

His eyes snapped back to her face, "That is only the beginning." He said.


	6. Chapter 6

He felt like he had scoured the entire city looking for her that morning, after he'd come to her apartment and found that he was too late. She had already left. She had left to see Sylar. What he couldn't foresee was what Sylar's response would be. If she confronted him with the truth, would he kill her then? For some reason Peter didn't think so.

Peter did his best to filter out the thoughts and voices for something familiar, blinking the fatigue out of his eyes. He had overslept and was still tired. After he'd come home the night before he called Claire only to tell her "I told you so." if nothing else but they spoke for over two hours batting around theories of why Sylar was being nice to Ellen; why she would rather believe Sylar than Peter. Claire had told him to quit sneaking up on her in the middle of the night for starters and said she would talk to her.

She slid off the counter and took the necklace out of his hand with an impressed smile but he held fast onto her hand.

"It's your turn." He said, keeping her close to him.  
Ellen's face went red, "My turn?" she said nervously.  
"To show me what you can do." Gabriel let his other hand touch her face in a light caress along her cheek to her jaw bone and her neck.  
"I don't want to hurt you."

She gave a half hearted pull against his grip on her, testing if he'd release her, but he would not be swayed. They both ignored the tapping of her necklace falling to the ground as he allowed his fingers to lace gently in her own, bringing her closer.

Ellen's mind was blank – her control and judgment never seemed to have ever existed as he touched her. The tingling was growing in her hands, her face – everywhere and she was powerless to stop it. She didn't even question why he was being the assertive one all of a sudden. She didn't want to.

"You won't hurt me." He said softly. 

She avoided his gaze, keeping her face down, her eyes focused on the collar of his shirt. But she could feel the touch of his breath on her skin and the weight of his voice.  
The lamp in the room flickered violently and Gabriel's heart beat faster.

A small shoot of light leaped from her hand to his making the hairs on his hand stand on end. The thrill of her power and her touch combined coursed through him like a brush fire.

"You – you don't know that." She said finally.  
Gabriel pushed her hair back, putting his cheek against hers as he whispered in her ear, "Do you trust me?"

Ellen closed her eyes, she could feel the rough stubble of his face on her own and his voice in her ear nearly paralyzed her.  
Placing his fingers under her chin he raised her bright eyes to him. They were brighter as another stream of light came between them. But he wasn't harmed.

"Yes." She said.

He guided her lips to his own and kissed her as she bathed them both in her white light. It danced about them like a wild ballet, but neither of them seemed to notice.

Gabriel closed his eyes to her kiss and fell into it – something he allowed himself to do not simply because he had wanted to but most importantly, it didn't matter.  
Ellen would be gone soon.

It was late afternoon by the time he found them. They were walking closely together, talking quietly.  
Peter heard her thoughts first  
_I'm glad Peter was wrong about him._   
She was happy, relieved.

He saw them walking together and landed on his feet, his body invisible still, and began following them down the sidewalk several meters behind but just close enough that he could still hear them.

"You don't think Peter will try to hurt you because of this?"

Gabriel looked thoughtful for a moment. There was something close by that hadn't been there before. He gripped her arm and slowed down as he took a glance behind them.  
"What is it?" Ellen said, following Gabriel's gaze down the street. She saw nothing out of the ordinary and looked back at him but he shook his head at her as though it was nothing and they kept going.

"There is no telling what he might do." Gabriel said.  
"I won't let him hurt you." Ellen muttered.  
"I have no doubt in your abilities and that is very considerate of you, but I wouldn't worry too much about it." Gabriel grinned to himself when Ellen wasn't looking.

He had heard Peter mutter out loud in response to their conversation and then he had found it, the angry, heated heart beat that followed them amongst all the others on the street. Peter had found them again.

Persistent. Gabriel then reached out and found Ellen's hand and held it as they walked, taking another glance over his shoulder looking nonchalant. She smiled and squeezed his hand in acceptance.

They reached the door to Gabriel's work shop and stopped.  
"I should probably go. I've got another gig tonight." She said, "I had a good time." She didn't leave though. Ellen still stood there, staring at him.

Gabriel was getting to know her expressions well enough that he stepped closer to her and muttered, "Don't worry about me, Ellen." He said, running his fingers along her cheek and over her ear. After everything she still had concern for him.

"When will I see you again?" she said.

"Perhaps tonight."  
She smiled broadly at the thought and he released her. Peter was still there, very near them, watching and listening like an incompetent spy.

Gabriel stepped off the stoop to his front door and grasped her by the arm, pulling her to him again. He combed his fingers through her hair and kissed her hungrily.

Peter could barely keep control of himself as he watched her wrap her arms around Sylar's neck in the want of his kiss.

Ellen felt her fingers through his thick hair, losing herself in how tightly he held her. It was difficult to let go.  
They held each other for a few more seconds until he did let her go.

She stood close to him, her eyes looking up at him and smiled again, "Goodbye yourself." She said and managed to stagger back onto the sidewalk, "I'll see you later."

_I've got to warn Claire. Peter is unstable…in more ways than one I think._ She thought as both men lost her in the crowd of people passing on the street.

Peter was gripping the corner of the building so hard as he watched them he'd ripped off a chunk of it, forgetting his strength.  
Sylar stood there, still a small smile on his lips as he looked after her. Until he couldn't make her out anymore he lowered his head.

_Hello, Peter._ He thought  
Peter froze.  
_When are you going to realize that you cannot hide from me?_  
Peter watched a smile spread across Sylar's face.  
_It would seem that you're the killer now, wouldn't it? The truth is so difficult to maintain and translate sometimes, wouldn't you agree?_  
Gabriel laughed, ignoring the strange looks he was getting from passers by.  
_How ironic that she has chosen to be mine and that she fears you._  
He looked where Peter would be standing were he visible, daring him to try anything before he opened the door to his shop and stepped out of sight.


	7. Chapter 7

Ellen performed that night at the Club Maroon with no sign of Gabriel being there to see her. She went home disappointed again wondering what he could have meant when he said he'd see her again that evening. She reached her building with no trouble and went upstairs to her second floor apartment. As she entered and removed the key from the lock in the door she allowed her eyes to flash and the lights in her living room awoke to welcome her.

Stewart raised his head from his comfortable spot on the couch and mewed a greeting to her as she went into her bedroom to change. She came out in her pajamas, a long men's T-shirt and thin sweat pants.

The tabby cat padded after her into the kitchen as she fixed herself a snack, hoping to receive a treat from her. Ellen gave him half a piece of bologna and sat on the couch in the living room with her food and turned on the television, keeping the sound low.

She paid little attention to the late night talk show as she turned over the days events in her mind. The evening had been no different than any other one. But the afternoon had been amazing!

Ellen pulled a knitted afghan from the back of the couch and draped it over her as she lay down, staring blankly at the television. She pressed her fingers to her lips, still feeling his kiss as Stewart leapt onto the couch with her and curled up against her.  
Her eyes met with the cats, "Why am I so stupid, Stewart?" she said. "I'm not entirely stupid, just man stupid I guess."  
Stewart only looked at her with emerald green eyes. She scratched behind his ears and he purred happily.

Ellen blinked her eyes and the lights went out leaving only the light of the television, cold and blue reflecting in Stewarts large eyes. She sighed to herself and shook her head.

Her breathing had become steady; the rhythm of her heart beat was restful. Sylar stood up on the fire escape and moved to the window silently. The only noise he made was the soft swish of his long black coat as he moved.   
With a lift of his finger the latch gave way and the window raised up allowing him to enter the apartment.

It must be done, he continued to tell himself. Though I have no doubt she would give me her power freely she would not be able to. I must take it from her. It must be done.

He followed the sound of her breathing and stepped into the living room. But there was another body there. He hadn't noticed it at first because it was quieter than what he heard from Ellen. Sylar's eyes darted about the room until he realized it wasn't a person at all. The breathing and heart beat were faster, more shallow. It was a small animal of some kind.

Sylar kept moving, approaching the back of the couch when he saw her hand flop over the arm as she stretched in her sleep. Stewart awoke with her movement and sensed another presence in the room. He leaped lightly off the couch and skirted it easily until he was met with a tall dark figure.

The two of them eyed each other for a moment, Stewart sizing Sylar up before he approached and rubbed his side against his ankle. Sylar bent down and scratched the cats back until it grew disinterested and moved on.

He walked around the couch - his hand gently touching the tips of Ellen's fingers as he passed – until he stood in front of her sleeping form.  
It must be done.

Kneeling in front of her, he smoothed her hair away from her face and looked at her for a moment. He would make it as clean as possible, and fast. A prick of sadness hit him as he studied her peaceful face, "I believe I could have loved you." He whispered and kissed her forehead.

Sylar raised his hand and pointed his finger at her, just above her eyebrows and started his cut at her left temple. He would do it quickly.  
A stinging pain hit him on his forehead but he kept going until the pain was too much for him. He stopped and saw that there wasn't a mark on her skin. There was only a faint line of light that moved across her body and disappeared.

Sylar blinked and saw her still in a deep sleep before him, nothing altered. He tried again, starting at the same place as a hot touch fell down his face. The pain worsened as he came to the middle of her forehead and he saw the rippling energy over her again. It began where he had made contact.  
His vision began to blur from the searing pain and he stopped letting out a yell, clamping his hand to his forehead and collapsing to the floor.

Ellen's eyes snapped open as the room lit up. Gabriel lay shaking on the floor in front of the couch. She saw blood seeping through his fingers and fumbled with her blanket until she freed herself from it. She knelt down next to him and tried to calm him.

She pried his hand away from his head and saw blood gushing from a deep cut in his forehead, "Oh, shit." She muttered, stifling her gag reflex as she ran into the bathroom and grabbed towels, disinfectant and bandages.

Gabriel's howls of pain did not dissipate. When she rushed back into the room, she could see hot tears coming from his eyes which were closed shut against the blood and pain. His face was stained red with his own blood.

"Stay calm," Ellen said shakily, "Try to be still."  
She tried to hush him and he relaxed a little as she pressed a towel firmly to the wound in order to stop the bleeding. He found her hand and squeezed it tightly. She was too scared to notice the blood draining from her hand in his grip and could feel the tickle in her eyes that usually came before tears.  
No. She wouldn't break down. That would get them nowhere and he needed her right now. Gabriel needed her help, so she would help him as he helped her.

Gabriel lay very still, his hand had loosened its vice grip on her and his breathing was slower.  
"No, no, no! You stay awake!" she commanded as she leaned over him and patted his face until his eyes opened again.  
"Stay here with me, Gabriel." She said, checking under the towel.

He felt so groggy and suddenly very comfortable. All he wanted to do was sleep but he did his best to obey her. "You're helping me." He said in lazy and slurred tones.  
"Yeah," she said, "Keep talking to me. I think your bleeding has stopped." She removed the stained towel, exposing the clotted gash on his head and began to clean it.

"Tell me how this happened. Was it Peter?"  
"Don't remember." He mumbled, his eyes falling shut again.  
Ellen poured disinfectant on some gauze and pressed it to the wound. Gabriel stiffened and twitched from the stinging pain as she cleaned his injury.  
"It's all done, Gabriel." She said as she started to clean the blood from his face.

"'s cold in here." He said blearily.  
Ellen then realized how pale he was, how he was fighting to keep his eyes open for her, but it wasn't any use. He was going into shock.

Her first aid classes had been ages ago but she thanked herself for actually studying as she remembered most of what to do. She had to get that blood soaked coat off of him first. It wasn't helping keep him warm any longer.  
"Come on, Gabriel. Help me sit you up." She hefted him off the floor, her arms around him, and peeled the coat off his body, tossing it aside when she finally had removed it. 

"You smell nice." He said as she laid him back down on the carpet. He only wore a thin T-shirt underneath the heavy coat.  
Ellen calmed her thoughts. First, keep the victim warm. She left him for a moment and ran about her apartment and found every sheet and blanket she could find, even those on her bed and piled them in the living room next to him.

Next, elevate the victim's legs. She rolled up the afghan she had been using into a tight ball and pushed it under his feet.  
After she'd taped a bandage over his forehead and had piled and tucked about a dozen blankets over and around him, she began to realize how tired she was.

"I should call an ambulance." She ran her shaking hands through her hair as she looked at his frail figure on the floor.  
"No, Ellen." Gabriel could barely open his eyes but he forced himself to speak, "No. Just stay with me." He said with a lazy half smile.

"You've lost a lot of blood." She said desperately. "I don't know what else to do."  
"No, please. I'm warmer now and the pain is gone." He muttered.  
"Yeah, right."  
"I swear." He said, opening his eyes fully and looking up at her.

Ellen wanted to remain stern with him but she couldn't with those eyes looking at her. She knelt down next to him and scooted underneath the blankets with him. She turned to her side, propping her head up on her hand so she could look at him. His eyes were glazed over and half closed but his breathing was normal and some color had come back to his skin.  
She lay down next to him, "You promise you're alright?" she said.

He turned his head to look at her and touched a finger to her face, "Thank you, Ellen." He said and closed his eyes.  
Moving closer, she touched her lips to his in a light kiss, "Good night." She said as she found his hand underneath the blankets and held it. His fingers clasped over her hand as she blinked and turned out the lights.

It was so blazing hot that it finally woke him up. He blinked and saw sunlight filtering into the room from a nearby window. Gabriel rubbed his eyes, feeling the fabric of the bandage above his eyebrow and soon realized why he felt so hot. He pushed the blankets off of him and lay there for a moment, his body still felt weak. But he forced himself to sit up. It felt as though his brain was sloshing loosely inside his skull and a wave of nausea hit him.  
Ellen wasn't with him. He looked around the room and saw a note taped to the television.

_Gabriel,  
I had to be somewhere this morning. Please don't leave until I come back. You need to rest. Make yourself at home. There's plenty of food in the fridge. I'll be back soon.  
Love,  
Ellen_

Gabriel flopped back down to the floor in the pile of blankets and rubbed his sore head. What the _hell_ happened last night?

After a polite knock, Ellen let herself in feeling fully prepared for what would be said to her. Claire and Peter were very close and Ellen knew the conversation wouldn't go very far with Claire trying to convince her that Gabriel was a killer while Ellen would try to convince Claire that Peter was dangerous.

Of course, she couldn't be certain. Claire's message only said that she had something important to talk to her about, but Ellen wasn't as fantastically stupid as that.  
Ellen knew full well that she didn't have any solid roof, but she believed Peter to be responsible for what happened to Gabriel the night before. She clenched her jaw at the memory; Gabriel writhing in pain on her living room floor. She was still amazed at herself for remaining so calm the entire time.

There were low voices talking when she entered Claire's living room. She could see Claire on the couch with her head of long blonde hair. But she was talking to a man who sat next to her. He looked familiar to Ellen but she couldn't place him at first.

They both turned as she entered the room. Claire smiled as the man stood in a gentlemanly greeting. Ellen looked at him from head to toe and couldn't find a single thing out of place about him. His short hair was parted and combed neatly; he wore a white shirt and tie, with black slacks and freshly polished shoes.

"Ellie, this is Nathan Petrelli." Claire said, standing up and taking Nathan's hand, "This is my good friend, Ellen Warren."  
"Pleasure to meet you, Ellen." Nathan said, holding out his hand.

Ellen took it despite her shock. She must have looked like an oogling idiot to him, "It's an honor to meet you, sir." She said.  
He smiled warmly at her and invited her to sit down.  
All three stare at each other waiting for the other to say what they had on their minds knowing full well it was the same thing.

How on Earth could she know Congressman Petrelli? Did he visit her all the time simply because she was friends with his brother? Ellen stare at them both until she brought up the courage to speak first.  
"So, how do you know Mr. Petrelli, Claire? I didn't realize you had such close ties with Congress." Her tone was cold but she didn't care.

The result was immediate. She had struck a chord. Nathan lowered his eyes and Claire glanced at him first before she spoke, "You remember I told you I was adopted?"  
"Claire." Nathan put his hand on her knee.  
"It's okay." She patted his hand.

"Of course I do. You told me your father had died."  
"My adopted father." Claire said and she looked sidelong at Nathan for another moment, "I'd like you to meet my biological father. He's been taking care of me ever since."  
Nathan nodded and squeezed his daughter's hand.

Ellen couldn't speak for a few minutes from the surprise of this news, but she felt relieved. One thing that was explained fully was why Claire was so well cared for. She had private tutors and the works. Ellen had simply assumed that Claire had inherited a small fortune from her father after he'd passed.   
"That is an amazing story." She said, unable to think of anything more articulate to say. "This is what you needed to speak to me about?"

Claire shook her head.  
"No, I'm afraid it isn't." Nathan said, fixing her with his glassy stare, "Claire has told me that you have begun to see someone, someone very dangerous. That is why I'm here."  
Ellen bristled immediately, "Gabriel is not dangerous. He has never hurt me."

"Perhaps not, but he will. It has become his nature. He is out of his mind, Miss Warren."  
Ellen rolled her eyes, "He has acted more sane than any of you have the past few days."

"Ellie, I wouldn't lie to you about this." Claire said gently. "He is obsessed with gaining more power. That's all he ever wants with anyone."  
"No!" Ellen said. The lights flickered throughout the apartment.  
Ellen's face was red with anger and frustration. _It's not true!_

"We're doing this because we don't want you to get hurt." Claire continued.  
"I'm not going to listen to this anymore. You have no proof whatsoever." Ellen stood and started out of the room.

"I told you." said a familiar voice directly in front of her making her stop and look around.  
Peter materialized out of thin air in front of her. She let out a small scream and backed away. It tore at Peter to see that she was truly frightened of him. Sylar had done a thorough job.  
"She won't listen to you." Peter looked at Nathan and Claire who both stood up.

Peter approached her slowly, "He's completely turned everything around with you, hasn't he?"

Ellen continued to back away from him, her eyes frightened, until she ran into the chair she'd been sitting in.  
"I keep forgetting how cunning he can be." Peter continued, "You are very right. There is no physical, tangible proof against him. There is therefore, no reason for you to believe us."

Peter's eyes were hard as steel, "So," he said, "I will have to show you!" Peter grabbed Ellen tightly by the arm.

"Peter, NO!" Claire yelled, but she was too late. Ellen and Peter had vanished leaving her and Nathan alone.


	8. Chapter 8

Part 2

Anger coursed through her after she opened her eyes and saw Peter still in front her in completely unfamiliar surroundings. With all the energy she possessed Ellen placed a slap across Peter's face that echoed through the dimly lit hallway.  
"You son of a bitch!" she said breathing heavily.

Peter pulled himself back from her slap and faced her, the left side of his face bright red and stinging him. "Now is not the time to insult my mother." He said, hating the fact that he would have to continue to be firm with her if she were ever to learn and accept the truth. It didn't come as natural to him as other things. But for her sake, he was determined to do whatever it took.

He snatched her firmly by the arm again and pulled her closer to him, cupping his hand over her mouth so she would allow him to speak for a change.  
"You wanted proof and I'm going to show it to you." He said in a low voice, "But in order to keep us both safe you will do exactly as I say." He paused, waiting for her confirmation of that fact. She nodded.

"Don't make a lot of noise and stay with me…" his eyes softened as he looked at her. She was terrified of him, "..please."  
He took his hand away from her mouth she swallowed, not taking her eyes off of him in case he might attack her at any second. "Where have you taken me?"

"We're in Texas, I don't remember the name of the high school."  
Ellen looked around her for the first time. They stood in a wide hallway lined with lockers and wooden doors that led to classrooms.  
"It's Homecoming Night 2006." He continued.

Ellen looked at him sharply and a smile slowly crossed her face but it wasn't a kind smile. It looked more to Peter like she was losing a bit of her mind. She chuckled and put a hand to her forehead, perhaps to see if it was still in the same place she remembered it to be.

"Autumn of 2006." She muttered. "We've traveled back in time." It wasn't a question, "Of course! Who needs a machine?" she continued, combing her fingers through her hair absentmindedly. "People have their own built in flux capacitors, Great Scott!"  
Peter could see her eyes becoming wilder and less focused as she spoke. "Just screw H.G. Wells for heaven's sake!" she stumbled backwards and ran into a set of lockers.

He sighed and looked at the ceiling for a moment to gather his thoughts before taking her hand. He put his hand to her face to bring her back, forcing her to look at him and hushed her. "Listen to me, Ellen." He said softly.

Ellen looked at him, her smile had left revealing how frightened she was. "You can alter time." She said blankly.  
Peter blushed a little attempting to keep his expression serious, "I have a friend who can." His rubbed his thumb against her cheek and stare at her as he'd done before. "Are you with me, Ellen?" he said.  
Ellen breathed deeply and straightened up as she nodded, shaking her arms and hands out, trying to relax herself.

"In order for us both not to be seen we have to keep this." He held up her hand clasped in his and squeezed tight. "Without me, people will be able to see you."  
"Got it." She said, brushing her hair from her face.  
Peter studied her for a moment, wondering if this was a good idea after all. "You're not going to like what you will be seeing. You've got to promise me that you won't try and interfere or make any noise. These are past events."

_If I don't go insane after this…_ Peter heard her think.  
"Do you promise?"  
"I promise."  
Peter tucked a piece of her hair behind her ear and smiled, "Just stay with me and it'll be okay."  
_Sure it will._

Ellen gasped before Peter could roll his eyes again. She latched onto Peter, her eyes open wide at something behind him. Peter whirled around, trying to ignore the pace of her heart beat.

A dark figure had stopped at the hallway entrance, hearing Ellen's gasp. She clapped her hand over her mouth and looked at Peter whose eyes were on the figure in the entrance. He stood, scanning the hallway, looking for the source of the noise but saw nothing. Peter and Ellen stood stone still as he began to walk towards them.

The man – Ellen could only assume it was a man – wore a long black coat and baseball cap. His face was hidden in shadow. She squinted at him; he seemed to actually embody shadow. His walk was slow and precise with effortless movement, making no noise that she could hear.

As close as he came to them, his face remained hidden though Ellen couldn't help but recognize the coat. But there were probably thousands of coats like that.  
The figure brushed past them, leaving a chill in his wake. Ellen shivered.

Peter got Ellen's attention and with a finger pressed to his lips, signaled that the should follow him as the shadowed man turned sharply down another corridor.  
Ellen shook her head violently, looking scared but Peter walked ahead of her and pulled her forward with him, leaving no room for an argument. Her shoes slapped against the floor and the man turned quickly, again searching for the source of the noise but found nothing.

He continued until the three of them could hear young girl's voices near by. As she watched him, Ellen could swear that he was fading in and out of the shadow and the dull light in the hallway. At times she could see him fully, as plain as Peter was next to her and the next moment the edges would become fuzzy and he'd blend into the darkness for just a second.

They watched him slip through a doorway and followed. By the time Peter and Ellen had entered the room, the man had disappeared and the pair of them could see the backs of two girls with long blonde hair dressed in cheerleading uniforms.

The girls were standing in front of a doorway opposite the one Ellen and Peter had come through. Their bodies were ridged and one of them spoke.  
"Did you hear that?" the one who spoke turned to face the other and Ellen had to cover her mouth again as she saw a teenage Claire look about the room.

A shadow passed over both girls in a long silent moment.  
The other cheerleader was grabbed by the shadow from behind. Peter felt Ellen shake as they watched him slam her body against a row of lockers, holding her by the throat and lifting her off the ground as she struggled and kicked against him.

Ellen saw the terror on Claire's face and pulled Peter with her to move closer. Claire lunged at him from behind, wrapping her arms around his throat in an attempt to pull him off of the girl he held but he was too strong. With almost no effort he pushed Claire off of him, slamming her against the opposite wall and returned his focus on the struggling girl that whimpered at him.  
She squirmed and yelled until he covered her mouth. Ellen saw his hands and recognized them, knew their touch.

He began to cut along her forehead with what seemed to be an invisible blade, the blood dripped down her face and onto her clothes, her screams weakening as he did so until it was done. He'd silenced her.

A burst of protest escaped Ellen before Peter put his hand to her mouth again. He turned but only saw Claire who was standing again, her body mending itself at an extraordinary rate before their eyes. Her wounds had never existed, only stains of blood remained as any evidence.

The body he held dropped to the floor as he watched Claire but she didn't have to think. Claire ran for it.  
As he passed them, Ellen got a glimpse of those brown eyes underneath the baseball cap though they looked as if they were made of stone.

Peter watched him leave then looked at Ellen. Her eyes were on the body of the cheerleader that lay in a bloody heap on the floor. She wiped a tear from her face as she mumbled, "No, no, no, no…" over and over again.  
_It's not, him. It's not him!_ Peter heard her tell herself. _She's just a girl. Why would he hurt an innocent girl?_  
Her thoughts were scattered and erratic to Peter. Some made sense while others seemed to be bits of memory as the voices they were in seemed different. She still doubted though.

Ellen was shaking her head, her eyes fixed on the cheerleader still as Peter put his arm around her shoulders and held her, "There is more, I'm afraid."  
The locker room was suddenly silent and empty, Claire's screams echoing nearby.

When Peter let her go, Ellen looked around again. They were still at the high school. She and Peter stood at the top of a sort of amphitheater. There was a football game going on close by under the inky black night sky.  
They both heard the scream and saw Claire making a mad dash towards them, climbing the stairs of the theater. Ellen gasped in surprise as she saw Peter running after her, helping her back to her feet as she fell.

The shadow walked after them as though he had all the time in the world.  
"So weird." the Peter standing next to her muttered under his breath as the past Peter yelled for Claire to keep going.

After a moment of convincing she finally ran, leaving Peter alone to face him. Ellen backed away in sync with past Peter as the shadow slowly approached. He lunged at Peter with fantastic force, pushing them up the steps to the top of the amphitheater.

Ellen released a choked cry as they toppled over the edge.  
She and Peter looked to the pavement below and saw the crumpled bodies of both men lying still on the pavement.  
_That's not him. It cannot be Gabriel. It's a trick!_

Peter studied her hard for a moment and decided she needed a little more convincing. He held her fast and they left as the shadow began to move.

The apartment building looked very old. They had appeared in a hallway. It looked to Ellen from the stair case ahead of them that they were three or four floors up.  
"No, this isn't right." Peter said to himself and the setting vanished just as she was reorienting herself.

They returned inside an apartment. Ellen glimpsed out a near by window. It was frigid outside but there was no snow on the ground and there were buds on the tree branches. The beginning of spring…wherever they were.

There was the sound of men's voices and Peter tugged on Ellen's hand for her to follow him. They walked into a larger room. The paint on the walls was peeling and the floorboards looked warped and uneven. But Ellen wasn't concerned about the décor.

She saw Gabriel immediately, his hair was a little shorter but it was definitely him. Peter had to stop her from going to him, grabbing her around the waist and pulling her back.

Gabriel looked angry, his eyes were blazing at another man who stood opposite him. Ellen didn't recognize him. He had dark curly hair and deep olive skin. His face was terrified, his eyes were fixed on Gabriel.

"I was becoming extremely bored with you actually." Gabriel was saying. It was his voice but Ellen didn't recognize it. "But I do credit you, Dr. Suresh, for finding me out as it were, before I had to make a sign and hang it around my neck." The voice was ice cold.

"What are you after?" Suresh said.  
"EVERYTHING." Gabriel changed his voice to a deep and harsh tone making him sound almost demonic.

Ellen stared in bafflement at him. She could never have pictured him so angry, so full of rage.  
"BUT I'LL SETTLE FOR WHAT YOU WANT – THE PEOPLE ON THAT LIST." He raised his hand and jerked it, sending Suresh flying into the wall and crumpling to the floor. He then lifted him up like a doll and slammed him into the ceiling. Blood dripped from Suresh's face and he grunted in pain but Gabriel stopped.

Footsteps were coming closer from outside the door.  
Gabriel smiled and placed a finger to his lips to ensure Suresh's silence.  
Ellen was leaning against the wall, feeling terribly weak very quickly. The surprise of another Peter entering the room didn't phase her as she gazed, misty eyed at the scene.

She watched Peter look up and see the doctor pinned to the ceiling. Peter's eyes grew wide and scared as Suresh managed to speak.  
"Sylar." He grunted at Peter who turned and was pushed against the wall.  
Ellen watched, horrified as Gabriel with hardly a blink or any expression on his face pointed a finger at Peter and began to cut into Peter's head as he'd done the cheerleader. The scream shook the room, making her bones quake but it didn't phase Gabriel at all until he saw Peter's skin close up on itself as Claire's had done.

He looked surprised at Peter before Peter yelled and pushed Gabriel into the opposite wall without even touching him. But Gabriel stood up again in front of Peter who vanished.

The Peter she stood next to cursed quietly as his past self moved away from Gabriel. They watched as he turned suddenly, catching a glimpse of them out of the corner of his eye. He stared at Ellen and gaped at his future self. He tried to find words but none came and there was no time.

Peter put his arm around Ellen and pushed her to the ground with him as pieces of glass shot about the room like stray bullets. She looked up in time to see the past Peter's eyes lose their focus and his body collapse to the floor, a piece of blood stained glass lodged in the back of his head. Gabriel stood over the body, smiling…

The scene left.  
He was happy Peter was gone. Hurting him, that teenage girl meant nothing to him. _Nothing._ It felt as though Peter was showing her events that involved Gabriel's twin brother. Though their faces were the same she did not know the man she just saw.

Ellen felt sick. Her head ached, her stomach hurt and her legs felt as though they were made of rubber. All that blood. He had caused all that pain!

The two of them were still standing there dumbstruck when Peter returned with Ellen. They reappeared on the same spot in Claire's living room. The only difference was Ellen. She looked haggard and worn.  
Her legs gave way and she fell part of the way to the floor, Peter eased her the rest of the way down.

"Good Lord, Peter. What did you do to her?" Nathan said as he and Claire rushed to them, crouching around Ellen who clutched onto Peter like a life preserver.  
So much blood. The screaming. How could he stand the screaming? Ellen's stomach churned at her and she stiffened and sat up.  
"I think I'm gonna puke." She stood under her own power and rushed into Claire's bathroom, slamming the door behind her.

Both Nathan and Claire stared at Peter as though he'd murdered somebody.  
"I only showed her what Sylar is capable of. We were there, Claire. She wasn't. She had never seen anything like that before."  
Claire rolled her eyes, "I didn't want you to take her. Didn't I say…?"  
"Yes! You said but you also couldn't think of another way to convince her."

Claire didn't respond. Watching Sylar at work would make anyone sick to their stomach. Poor Ellen had probably and actually kissed the man! Claire shuddered at the thought.

"What is Sylar?"  
All three turned towards the bathroom door and saw Ellen leaning in the doorway of the bathroom. Claire moved quickly to her and guided her to the couch to sit down.  
"I don't know." Peter answered, "It's what Gabriel decided to call himself." He sat on the arm of the couch next to Ellen.

"I don't understand it at all." Ellen moaned as Claire handed her a glass of water.  
"I don't know who that man was but it is not the man I know!" she waved the glass around like a mental patient as she spoke.  
Claire patted her hand, "You see why we tried to warn you?"  
"With the powers you have he'll be after you soon enough." Nathan added.

Peter remained silent and looked at her. Ellen touched two fingers lightly to her forehead and drew an invisible line across it. Exactly where Gabriel had been cut only his wasn't all the way across.  
_…he already is_

"I need to go home." She said.  
"I'll get a car to pick you up." Nathan reached for his cell phone.

"No, I'll do it." Peter touched her gently on the shoulder as Claire grabbed her hand. All three disappeared leaving Nathan rolling his eyes muttering what sounded like "hate that" under his breath.


	9. Chapter 9

The alley in between the two apartment buildings came to life quite suddenly when the three of them appeared together. Claire looked around, realizing where she was. They stood next to Ellen's building.

All of Peter's attention was on Ellen. She leaned against the wall of the building and sighed, her stomach still feeling tender and her legs weak. She muttered a small "thank you" to Peter and started to the front of her building. Peter followed as did Claire but he touched her elbow, holding her back for a minute. With only a look Claire knew he'd rather she wait outside for him.   
Claire reluctantly nodded and flashed a small smile to herself as Peter walked around the corner after Ellen.

Peter didn't feel safe leaving her alone and followed her up the steps of her building, the same ones she stood with Gabriel on just the other day. It seemed like ages ago to both of them. She needed taking care of. Her eyes were red and puffy from crying, the skin on her face was blotched red; he could see her hands still shaking as he looked at her.

"I'm sorry you had to find out that way." He said. The look of her brought the guilt up inside of him and he was truly sorry for what he felt he had to do.

_No you're not._  
Ellen said nothing and only nodded avoiding his eyes. Her hand rested on the door handle to her building but she didn't move yet. It looked as though she were deciding what to do.

Peter hated beating about the bush. It wasn't fair that he could read her thoughts and it couldn't be the other way around, "I don't want to leave you alone like this." He said helplessly. "Please, let me – " he stopped himself, rearranging his thoughts, "Let me or – or Claire stay with you."

_I want to be alone._  
"It's okay." She said and finally looked at him, into his eyes. Peter felt his stomach lurch at her gaze. "I owe you an apology as well." She said. "I was very rude to you before. You were right, I didn't want to listen to you and as a result I was mean."

Peter shook his head and took her hand, "No, no. You don't have to – "  
"I'm not a mean person, Peter." She said, her eyes welling with tears again.  
"I know you're not." Peter said gently.  
"I am sorry." She said and opened the door.

"Am I allowed to come and check on you later?" he said.  
Ellen thought for a moment and nodded.  
"Be safe." He said, kissing her hand and holding it in both of his for one more moment before he let her take it away from him.  
She closed the door.  
_Gabriel_ she thought, _…he's going to kill me._  
Her heart began to thud in her chest again as it did when she saw the shadow in Claire's high school. Peter put his ear to the closed door and listened to her as she moved away.

She had told him to stay. Ellen got to her floor and then to the door to her apartment and stood in the hallway staring at it. Closing her eyes tightly she forced the images from her mind. The screams still echoed in her ears and she believed she would never be able to stop hearing them. Breathing deeply she did her best to calm her nerves and opened the door.

Sunlight poured into the room through the windows on the far wall. Ellen opened the door cautiously and stepped into the room, making as little noise as possible as though someone was waiting at the side of the doorway with a double bladed axe.  
She saw the note she had left him on the floor next to the pile of blankets and approached slowly.

Gabriel lay asleep on the couch, a hand resting on his chest that rose and fell slightly as he breathed, and the other dangled over the edge of the cushion. He'd used those hands to kill. Ellen felt sick again as she saw him, so calm and innocent looking as she had always thought him to be.

Her heart moved faster and Gabriel stirred, opening his eyes.  
Ellen wanted to hide but he had somehow known she was there already. His eyes opened to her and she stared at him.  
"Hello." He said with a small smile.  
There was a line of red where his blood had seeped through the bandage on his forehead.

Ellen stammered until she could find her voice, "How are you feeling?"  
He curled his up his legs so she could sit next to him. "Better." He said. "Thank you, Ellen." The voice was so gentle, so not like what she had heard when she was with Peter.  
Ellen allowed her eyes to wander anywhere but his face and she saw the black coat lying in a heap on the floor and shuddered.

"You've been crying." He said and sat up immediately, his hands lightly on her arm.  
Her heart pounded in her chest at his sudden movement and he stopped. "What's wrong?" he brushed her hair from over her shoulder to her back and felt her recoil from his touch.

"Ellen." His voice had lost some of its tenderness. It had been replaced with suspicion. He felt her trembling frame when he put his hand on her back and his eyes narrowed.  
"Has someone hurt you?" he asked firmly, pursing his lips. He dared anyone to come near her. She shook her head and still refused to look at him.

"Where have you been?" he said, commanding an answer from her rather than asking.  
Her eyes were focused on the floor in front of her, her hands twisting and untwisting themselves in her lap, "If I don't tell you are you going to kill me?"

Gabriel thought what she could mean besides the obvious from the question. Surely she did not know about last night. He had turned it over, sideways, and upside down in his mind and he still could not understand how she had been asleep yet she had somehow deflected him.  
He wanted her power but he could not have it. He hadn't come to grips with that fact yet, the lust for her power was still strong inside him. But he could still have her and he believed that he almost wanted that more. Never in his entire life had he encountered such kindness, he did not believe it existed until he met her.

"What are you talking about?" he said innocently.  
"Please don't touch me." She said and stood up in one swift movement that surprised even her.  
"Ellen, tell me who has hurt you?" he said, getting to his feet as well and moving to her.

She looked fully at him then, her eyes wild wet with her tears, "Fine! It's you, Gabriel." She backed away as he came to her until her back was against a wall. "It's always been you." She said softly.

Gabriel would not give her any space and allowed her to pin herself between him and the wall, leaving only a small gap between she and him. He would not lose her power and her as well. He would not!

Her head lolled weakly to one side as he approached, her eyes looking helplessly about the room when she felt a warmth on her cheek. Gabriel gently pulled her eyes back to him, his fingers in her hair and palm on her jaw.

"Just please, please leave." She whispered to him. "Please go now. I can't have you here anymore." Her breathing became more rapid as he touched her. She was afraid but couldn't move away and didn't try to push him away either.

Gabriel shook his head slowly, "No. Not until you tell me what you're on about." He said in a low voice, he lifted the tears from her cheeks with his fingers and touched the wet tips to his lips.

"Please…" she said quietly, pushing his hand away.  
His eyes were alight as he came closer, kissing her forehead, then her jaw and neck, then a touch on her lips. Ellen shuddered and closed her eyes, turning her head away from him. His draw was so strong that she felt she couldn't fight it for much longer.

"I would never hurt you, Ellen."  
"I don't know that." Ellen could barely speak. "I don't know you."  
His hands moved underneath her jacket and pushed it off her shoulders allowing it to slide to the floor leaving only a light cap sleeved shirt underneath.

"Yes you do." He said softly in her ear as he'd done before. His fingers glided down her neck to her chest, "You know me better than most. I am Gabriel," He winced at his own voice saying the name. "and I will take care of you – "  
"Gabriel, please don't." she said.  
"I won't let anyone hurt you." He smiled slightly at how absurd he sounded to himself but for some reason he wanted to believe it.

Ellen put her hands on his chest to keep space between them but he would have none of it. With one hand pressed to her back and the other around the back of her neck, tangled in her hair he kept her close to him, allowing his lips to play across her skin.

She felt the small thump of his heart through his chest, steady and strong. It lulled her against what she really wanted to say to him, what she wanted to scream at him. Never in her life had she felt so torn. A man with suddenly so much passion and gentleness to her she had also witnessed do horrible things to other people. He would have killed Claire in an instant that night if it hadn't been for Peter. He would have killed Peter as well if it hadn't been for Claire.

But he had not harmed her.  
Ellen's hands slid to his shoulders and neck, finally accepting his embrace. Her tired face slid against his, feeling the slight beard growth on his cheek and jaw.

"I can't believe you." She whispered in his ear.  
"Why not?" he cupped her face in his hands and kissed her again, holding her longer each time.  
Ellen felt as though she was going to burst with what she was feeling. She was afraid to lose him and she wanted him so badly in that moment but there was no denying what he was.

"Because – because – " she choked on her words but he smiled.  
"Because why, Ellen?" he brushed her fresh tears away.  
"I know what you really are," She said, her voice shaking violently. "I know what you've done...S-Sylar." she said


	10. Chapter 10

Gabriel pulled away from her at her words. "_What_ did you say?"  
Ellen took the opportunity and moved away from him back towards the center of the room as she spoke, "Sylar. That is your real name isn't it?" she snapped at him.  
He stepped back from her, hearing his chosen name in her voice felt like ice being poured down his back. It was familiar yet he did not accept it this time. "Where did you hear that?"

Ellen shook her head, ignoring how tired she was. She would not cower in front of him like a frightened child. He would not have that power over her. If he had to kill her first, then so be it. "It's true isn't it? Sylar is what you call yourself to everyone else."  
Sylar's face contorted, his eyes flashed at her as she had never seen before, "Do not call me that!" he bellowed.

Ellen backed further away as she was reminded of the man she saw in those past scenes, the man who chased after Claire and killed Peter without so much as a thought.   
"You know who I really am, who I can be!" he said pointing a finger at her madly. "Say my name. Say it!"  
Ellen felt a heat growing inside of her, "Gabriel." She said and he lowered his hand. But she continued, feeling braver, "All the things you can do, were any of them really yours to begin with?" the tingling in her fingers grew.

Gabriel clenched his jaw and didn't answer. His hands balled up into fists so tight that his skin turned white.  
"Were you planning to take mine as well, Gabriel? Were you going to kill me for it just so you could claim it as your own?"   
The room crackled with the heat and tension between the two of them. Gabriel was shaking as he stood there, filled with rage. His anger wasn't even towards her necessarily. He knew who had shown her the truth and he loathed Peter for it.

She felt her legs ready to come out from underneath her but she would not let them. He started towards her like an angry bull and she ran but he snatched her and yanked her towards him, putting his arms fully around her and held her so tightly that she could barely breathe.  
"Let me go!" she gasped and released an instinctive burst of light.  
Gabriel screamed and pushed her away. As the lights in his vision died he saw small burn marks on his arms and hands, the skin was dead and still steaming from the shock.

"I cannot believe you any longer, Gabriel." Ellen said, breathing heavily as he stared disbelieving at his wounds. "Everything you've said to me was a lie. I'm sorry I believed you. But," Ellen calmed herself and looked at him, "I won't tell anyone. Just promise me that you'll leave. Go anywhere, it doesn't matter."

Gabriel stared at her, his face blank of expression. Leave? It was laughable. He was hardly done yet even with the powers Claire and Peter possessed. Peter. He had touched her, turned her around yet again and there was no coming back from that, she was no longer his.

Sylar scoffed at the very idea.  
If he wanted it, it would be his, period. Ellen's powers would be his and perhaps Ellen herself as well, but there had to be a way. He needed more time, more time with her.  
He stood to his full height, allowing the shadow to surround him. His eyes darkened and his lips curled into a sneer at her. The beating of her heart became like all the others. Like music, it raced at the sight of him. The sight of what she said he really was.

Ellen trembled as he approached her, "Gabriel." She said.  
Sylar shook his head, "MY NAME IS SYLAR." He spoke in the familiar tone she had heard in the old apartment before Peter had come in.  
Her eyes grew wide with fear. She opened her hands releasing the dancing electric current at him. It knocked him backwards and to the floor in a stream of white and blue light. His shirt was charred and the skin on his chest was burned but it hadn't been strong enough.

Sylar climbed smoothly back to his feet, "Leaving is not an option, Ellen." He said simply, brushing himself off. He felt the pain from the burns but it was small and he was able to push it to the back of his mind. 

"You've hurt so many people!" Ellen said, tears in her eyes, "How can you stand it? How can you bear all those innocent lives just for the gain of something so small?"  
"You think what I do makes me smaller." He said.  
"I thought you were different, above all the want for achievement and power in the world. There is more to it than that."  
Sylar laughed a harsh and cold laugh, "All of it was necessary. There is nothing greater in the world." He stepped towards her again, wary of her power. "I wish there was a better way to show you."

"Yes there is." Ellen was shocked at how calm she was as she spoke to him. "Gaining power and hording it, keeping it as your own is nothing but selfishness."  
Sylar said nothing.  
"It is something a child would do, not a grown and intelligent man." She said. "I never thought you as small until now, Gabriel. You disappoint me."

Sylar growled and raised his hand to her, "NO!" he bellowed in his dark voice as he lifted her off her feet and slammed her body into the wall without touching her. Her head cracked sickeningly against the wall and she fell limply to the floor, her eyes were barely open as Sylar approached her. He heard her heart rate slow and she made no effort to stand.

"FOR THAT, I WILL KEEP YOU ALIVE FOR A VERY, VERY LONG TIME." He pointed a finger at her but before he began everything slowed down and came to a stop. The clock on the wall was silent as Peter and Claire scrambled in from Ellen's bedroom.  
Claire didn't take her eyes off of Sylar though he looked more like a carved statue rather than a real person as Peter crouched down next to Ellen and put his hands on the sides of her face.

Her eyes were glazed over and half open as she muttered soft gibberish to him. Peter summoned his strength and lifted Ellen off the floor, cradling her in his arms, her arms and head resting limply against him.  
"Claire! Come on! I don't know how much longer I can hold him like this." Peter hissed.

Sylar's face was frozen in a delighted sneer, his eyes focused on the part of the wall Ellen was once in front of. Claire caught up to them in Ellen's bedroom and helped Peter get Ellen out of the window onto the fire escape.

"Go get Nathan, tell him what happened and that Ellen's safe for now. People need to know that Sylar has come back. They've got to know who he is."

Gabriel blinked slowly, his thoughts returning to him at their normal speed. There were voices coming from outside, but they were slow to reach him at first.  
Claire felt her pockets for her cell phone and cursed, she had left it at home.

"Just go!" Peter said as he eased Ellen to her feet. She could stand but leaned heavily on him, her head still groggy. Claire leaped down the steps of the fire escape, leaving Peter and Ellen there.

"Gabriel." Ellen said in a small voice.  
Peter looked up as Claire jumped off the bottom of the fire escape and started pounding the pavement towards her apartment.  
"Hello again, Peter." Sylar stood at the window. "You really are a meddler, aren't you?"

Peter didn't respond as Sylar flicked his fingers and pulled Ellen towards the window but Peter held her fast. She screamed feeling the pull against her from both men but Peter held Ellen tightly to him, moving his eyes towards the sky above them and took off with Ellen at an amazing speed into the clouds.

Sylar smiled and chuckled to himself as he stepped out onto the fire escape. Though he didn't have the power to fly he was able to compensate easily enough. He lifted himself into the air, rising above the roof tops of the buildings, his mind on pursuing them until he heard loud foot falls along the sidewalk not far from where he was. He could tell it was a woman from the lightness of her steps and the sound of her breathing was very familiar to him.


	11. Chapter 11

The air was very cold and chilled her skin as it rushed over her and through her ears. Her head hurt so badly. She just wanted to go to sleep and forget the past few days. Perhaps she could even find someone who could make her forget. The wind was so blasted loud and it was getting even colder but she could feel the warmth of the sun on her back.

Ellen blinked and blinked again. Her eyes watered every time she tried to open them. Peter held her as best he could, his arms around her as the moved through the sky. He heard her groan in pain and watched as her eyes opened.

Ellen saw the cityscape passing silently by hundreds of feet below them and screamed nearly throwing Peter off as she clung onto him and buried her face in his shoulder.  
_Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit, oh shit…!_ were her only thoughts repeated over and over again.

Peter smiled, "Don't worry, Ellen. It takes a little getting used to." He tried looked at her and could only see her hair on the top of her head, "I promise I won't let you fall."  
"I don't care!" she bellowed from the recesses of his jacket. "Just tell me when we land!"

She tried to remember when Peter told her he could fly and no instance came to mind. At the same time she was also trying to figure out what happened in her living room. She remembered Gabriel – no, she remembered Sylar coming towards her and then everything stopped and had faded. She must have hit her head really hard.

Peter did his best to keep breathing normally as she continued to hold him as tightly to her as possible the entire way until they reached the west side of the city. The trees and nice houses became more abundant and Peter descended.  
"I think you can look now." They were barely above the rooftops of the large homes.

Ellen pulled away from him slightly, opening one eye to make sure he wasn't fibbing and then the other as they passed over the neighborhoods. She looked ahead and saw the buildings of her beloved city still close by.  
Peter brought her closer to the houses below and smiled as she reached out her hand, allowing her fingers to graze over the leaves of a treetop. Ellen snatched it back quickly and latched onto Peter's jacket, afraid she would knock them off balance and they'd both fall out of the sky.

"We're almost there." He said, taking her hand and placing it on his chest underneath his own as they dipped under the trees and landed lightly in between two houses.  
Ellen's knees buckled under her sudden weight as her feet hit the ground but she found her strength again as Peter led her onto the sidewalk.

"People can see us now?" she said softly.  
Peter nodded, looking around cautiously. If Sylar had followed them, he had gotten much better at hiding than Peter ever could. He could hear nothing but Ellen's breathing and both their heart beats, hers slowing down as she regained her bearings.  
They walked hand in hand past a few houses until Peter stopped and moved up the walk towards a particularly lovely house with large windows at the front.

"Where are we?" Ellen asked as they reached the front door.  
"Home." He said, opening the door slowly and peering inside before pulling Ellen in after him. He hoped the Petrelli house was empty at the moment as he wasn't in the mood to explain anything to anyone who wasn't already involved.

Ellen stepped in after him and her jaw dropped as she looked around. They stood in the entrance way and the first thing that met her eyes was an elegant spiral staircase and a chandelier that hung overhead. To either side of them were entrances to beautiful open rooms with wide windows and what looked like rather expensive furniture.  
But she barely had time to browse before Peter pulled her upstairs with him. They entered into a bedroom, smaller than the rooms downstairs but decently sized at any rate. There was a twin sized bed against the far wall and a window that opened to the trunk of a large tree that grew in the yard.

Ellen's attention, however, was quickly pulled away from the room itself.  
Peter had gone in ahead of her and began to clear up pieces of paper that lay on the desk and that were pinned to the walls.

Directly in front of her was a large drawing of a pair of dramatic eyes. They were a bright blue with thin dark eyebrows above them. Next to it was a portrait in pencil. Ellen stepped closer and saw that the woman had dark hair like hers, an oval shaped face just as hers was shaped, and a mouth that was drawn just like her own. There was no mistaking it. The woman in the drawing was her but her eyes, everything about her looked so sad to Ellen.

She continued to look along the walls, there had to have been at least half a dozen more. Some were profiles, others were just drawings of her eyes but one way or another they were pieces of her. The only noticeable thing that seemed odd about them was that in each one they looked so sad or anxious, one even looked almost angry.

Ellen looked at Peter, her mouth slightly open but too dumbfounded for words. He only looked back at her helplessly as he held more drawings in his hands.

Careful not to get too close, he kept his eyes on her. The simplicity of it was incredible and fantastically convenient for him. He would trap her and move on to the next one.  
Claire looked behind her every few minutes as she ran, feeling the presence of someone and then in the next moment sensing that she was alone as she had always been. She never saw anyone and continued running as fast as she could back to her apartment.

One more block to go.

Sylar watched her slow down and run up the steps into a building and waited for a minute first.  
Claire burst into her apartment and doubled over, clutching the stitch in her side and gasping for breath as Nathan moved quickly to her asking her what happened.

"He – was – there." She gasped in between breaths.  
"Catch your breath, Claire." Nathan said.  
But she shook her head madly at him and stood upright, her face urgent, "Peter's got Ellen but he's gone after them."  
Nathan suddenly turned very serious, "Where?"  
"I don't know. Peter told me to get you so we could stop him before he hurts her or anyone else."

Nathan considered her for a moment and scratched the back of his head as he thought, allowing his eyes to wander about the room until they fixed on the front doorway.  
"Claire." He said firmly, taking her by the arm and pulling her behind him.  
Claire looked around Nathan and gasped.

Sylar moved slowly towards them, his presence looking as though it attracted shadow into the room and around his body. He smiled at them as he approached but Nathan didn't hesitate.  
At his first opportunity Nathan's fist made contact with Sylar's face knocking him to the floor. Sylar blinked away the white spots he saw and reoriented himself, lifting his hand at Nathan.

Nathan's body went stiff and ridged in Sylar's invisible grasp.  
"Get out of here, Claire!" he choked as his feet lifted off the floor until he dangled in mid air at the mercy of Sylar's power.

Sylar got to his feet once more as Claire started to back away. His eyes clapped onto her and he grinned, "Oh no dear." He said, lifting his other hand and pushing her until she was pinned against the wall.  
"I will save the best for last." He said to her and then turned back to Nathan, "No offense to you of course, Congressman." He mocked a small bow as he pointed his finger at Nathan and watched as the large cut opened along his forehead.

Nathan let out a bellowing scream as the deep red of his blood dripped down his face. Claire yelled and fought vainly in protest against Sylar's power. She watched frozen with terror, tears rolling down her cheeks as Nathan's body fell to the floor with a blood freezing thud and Sylar immediately fixed his eyes on her.

There was nothing she could do to stop it when he came towards her, his eyes alight with satisfaction as he looked down at her, realizing how small she really was.  
"The lovely Claire." He breathed deeply, closing his eyes, "Forgive me," he said, "I have waited so long for this moment and I intend to savor it to the very last." He smiled madly at her. "You should feel special, you're so important."

The pain blinded her but faded almost instantly after she felt it.  
Sylar closed his fist as he thought for a moment. His first cut was nowhere to be seen. Only a few drops of blood remained on her face as any evidence of it.

Claire's panicked eyes continued to flick back and fourth between Nathan's body and Sylar. There was no one to help her now. She was horribly alone. Peter and Ellen were gone and after everything Sylar would actually win after this. He would be nearly invincible after he'd taken her.  
Claire squirmed and twisted around feeling as though she may actually free herself when Sylar's eyes made contact with hers once more and the force that held her against the wall strengthened until she let out a whimper from the pressure.

"I had a feeling you were going to make this difficult for me." He said and pointed his finger at her for another try. Claire screamed until she felt her throat may burst. But she saw in his eyes that it didn't faze her killer at all.


	12. Chapter 12

Peter's shoulders sagged and he dumped the other drawings on the bed. He watched her carefully as she looked through them, knowing every lift of her mouth; every thin line at the corners of her eyes; the way her hair fell away from her face when she brushed it away. "I've seen your face so many times, Ellen." he said as she paused on one; her hair was down and went over one side of her face as she seemed to be looking over her shoulder. "Before I even met you I knew everything about it until I actually believed you didn't exist. I only wish I could have gotten one of you smiling."

Ellen looked up at Peter, his eyes were soft and kind as he looked at her. She turned and sat on the bed with the drawings in her hands. She was exhausted yet the day was still not over – and this only added to the lead weight that seemed to be hanging from her shoulders. Her head still hurt so badly.

"What does all this mean?" she said looking helplessly at him.  
"It means that you're important, at least to me. I wish I could tell you more than that." He replied softly.

Ellen stare at the drawings of her in her hands and thought of Gabriel. He had always been what she had just seen, cold and out of his mind. She never would have known had it not been for Peter.

"You make me look pretty." She said, wiping her eyes with her hands and trying to steady her breathing, but it came to no good.  
She had managed to hold her emotions for the most part during the turbulent afternoon but couldn't keep them any longer. They poured out of her as she put a hand over her face.  
Peter sat next to her and held her to him, feeling a pain in his chest at witnessing her sadness.  
_He seemed so perfect…and I even kissed him!_

Peter wiped her tears off her cheeks but allowed her to cry. Even he couldn't tell for certain what she had gone through that day.  
"I'm sorry." She said, "This is really very flattering." She indicated the drawings.  
"It's alright." Peter said as she allowed him to look into her eyes again. "You're a strong person, Ellen. You can get through this and I swear I'll help you in any way I can."

She didn't answer but continued to look at him.  
He felt his body tremble slightly being under her gaze for so long, "You will be alright, Ellen Warren." He said, tucking her hair behind her ear.  
"You've been so sweet Peter and I've just been horrible – "  
Peter shook his head, "We've gone over that already. It doesn't matter."

He felt himself falling into her gaze and before he could stop himself he leaned over and gently kissed her lips, his hands holding her face to him. Peter caught himself and pulled away, feeling her warm fingers on his hands, and quickly moved off the bed.

"I shouldn't have – " he said, his thoughts fragmented in his mind, "I'm sorry for – " he stopped and tried again, "That shouldn't have happened. I'm sorry." He stuffed his hands in his pockets and looked away from her.

_Don't – it felt like I needed it._  
Her eyes remained sad but she wasn't angry, "You don't have to apologize, Peter." She said, shuffling her feet on the floor and searching for a subject change.

"So, he's going to keep after me?" she said lamely.  
Peter nodded, still in attempt to control himself after that kiss.  
"He didn't follow us though." Ellen said as though to herself. She looked curiously at him as Peter's brain seemed to stop all of its thought processes at once.  
"No," he said slowly, "he didn't."

They looked fully at each other then as the thought occurred to them at the same time.  
"Oh no!" Ellen said, her eyes as wide as plates.  
"Claire!"  
Ellen leaped off the bed and took his hand, "Let's go then!" she said, her fatigue forgotten.  
Peter hesitated as he looked at her. Though she was running on a fresh batch of adrenaline she still looked very pale. "Are you sure you want to come?" he said raising his eyebrows at her.  
"She was trying to help me right along with you. I need to do the same for her if I can."

Peter nodded and closed his eyes.  
"This is mostly my – "  
Ellen's voice echoed in Peter's room for a second after they had disappeared.

"– fault anyway." Her voice pierced the room they stood in and she stopped herself from saying anymore. Peter squeezed her hand tightly and walked slowly into Claire's living room. The lights were dark and a cool light came in through the windows as clouds blocked out the sun in the sky.  
There was no sound to be heard aside from the noises outside, which made them both more anxious.

Ellen's eyes darted about the dim room as they entered and she saw it first. A pair of feet lay on the floor, sticking out from the front of the couch. They shoes that were on them were neatly polished and shined at her.  
She clawed at Peter's arm and pointed at the spot on the floor. Peter led Ellen around to the front of the couch, his blood pounding in his ears in anticipation of what he would find.

Nathan's body lay along the floor, his arms flopped over to one side and the top of his head was missing, a pool of blood soaked into the carpet where it should have been. His face was permanently frozen in an expression of fear and surprise. The glassy eyes were wide and stare blankly past them to the ceiling.  
Rage, hatred, sadness, and depression flowed through Peter. He didn't feel the hot tears on his face as his emotions ravaged through him. He had died as well, his mind was completely blank as he look at the body of his elder brother.  
Nathan was dead.

A helpless cry burst from Peter and he sank to his knees next to the body, putting his shaking hands to his face as he despaired, shaking his head and staring at the empty eyes.  
Ellen saw the blood and Nathan's eyes but she didn't react. She couldn't. The horror and perversity of what was before her paralyzed her thoughts and instincts until she looked at Peter who was rocking back and forth on his knees, staring at Nathan's body and shaking his head.

She knelt down next to him and put her arms around him. He didn't push her away but he didn't react to her either.  
"I'm so sorry Peter." She said in his ear.  
"I had always thought he could fix anything, solve any problem." Peter said. "I can't do it alone. I never could! Nathan - !"

Ellen hushed him, her hands to his face, "Peter." She said quietly, "Look at me, Peter."  
He slowly dragged his eyes away from Nathan's body and obeyed her. Ellen took the tears away from his face with her fingers, "It's your turn, Peter." She kissed him on the cheek and took his hands shakily, "We've still got to find Claire. It's what he would want."  
Peter's hands lay limply in hers until she tugged a few times. He got to his feet reluctantly and held onto her as though she was the only thing keeping him above water.

"That's very sweet."  
The two of them jerked around for the source of the voice as Sylar stood and allowed the shadows to lighten around him. They both looked at what he'd been crouched next to and Ellen let out cry.

Claire's eyes matched Nathan's and stare blankly past them, her face mangled from Sylar's work. No matter how long they waited, she wouldn't heal and blink up at them.  
"Hello, Ellen." Sylar smiled genuinely at her, "I've missed you."

Ellen choked on her words, she could barely stand seeing him there. Peter yanked her back towards the entry way, his eyes on Claire's body. Everything he cared about had died in that room.  
"How disappointing, Peter." Sylar said though his eyes would not leave Ellen, "All of the years of protecting her, of trying to save the world," he let out a chuckle, " leaving you only to fail now – because of a woman."

"NO!" Ellen screamed.

"I admit," he said, closing in on Ellen, "I was also in danger because of you – sweet, kind Ellen." He reached at hand towards her and touched her hair.

Seething with hatred, Peter pulled Ellen away and lifted a desk chair in the air without touching it and pushed it at Sylar as fast as he could. It shattered and splintered in front of Sylar, wood slivers cutting into his face as it fell to the floor in pieces.

Sylar faced him again, the cuts were deep in his face and bled down his cheek but then they didn't look so deep. Peter and Ellen watched with widened eyes as Sylar's skin mended itself. The bleeding stopped and the skin closed up leaving only stains on his now whole face.

He saw the expressions of shock on their faces and laughed mirthlessly, "Did you think you could hide something so precious as that forever? It would get rather tiring, I think." His eyes fell on Ellen again. She wasn't angry or surprised any longer. He couldn't read her face.

"What is it, Ellen? Do you still want me to leave? Leave you after being so close to you?"  
His hand shot out at Peter who grasped at his throat as he began to choke.  
Ellen yelled at him to stop but Sylar moved to her instead, putting his hand to her face. "Would you really want me to leave?"  
_No_, Peter heard.  
"You wouldn't stop." She said, moving her face away from him.  
Peter gagged and spluttered next to them until Sylar pushed him away.

"For you, you mean?" Sylar said.  
"For anything! If this is all you are then you have proven that you can't love, not the way another person can." Her eyes went to Peter. He lay still on the floor a few meters away.

"I can feel more than you know." Sylar said and held her at the back of her neck as he pulled her into a kiss.  
Ellen put her hands to his chest and allowed her white light to come alive. Peter raised his head and looked at them groggily, Sylar embraced her in a kiss as a light came between them. Sylar's body was blasted away from her.  
Peter watched him be flung away from her like a child's toy as Ellen came to help him up.

Sylar recovered easily and moved towards them again, looking as though they were playing a friendly game. The burn marks on his neck and face seemed to shrink up and fall back beneath his skin, "I'm sorry you have to watch this, Ellen." He said. "But I'm afraid I would rather keep you alive longer."  
He pointed a finger at Peter who braced himself as Ellen closed her eyes and held her hands out slightly to her sides allowing her power to course through her as it always had without her controlling it.

Peter could feel heat coming from her and looked as a ripple of energy danced in front of her, deflecting Sylar's contact so it ricocheted and hit a picture on the wall, shattering the glass.

"Peter," she said, "Peter! Take us back!" she said as Sylar tried again and a slice appeared in the fabric of a chair behind them.  
Sylar roared in frustration as Peter roused himself from his surprise and took her arm leaving an angry Sylar alone in the room, facing nothing in front of him but the front doorway.

Ellen opened her eyes. They were back in Peter's bedroom. She checked her watch and the clock on the nightstand. The time was the same; it was the present time.  
"No, no, no!" she said, turning to Peter. "I meant take us _back_! We can still save them." Her eyes were wild but focused on him.


	13. Chapter 13

Peter still looked dazed as she spoke to him, "Back?"  
"Yes!" Ellen said desperately, refusing the urge to knock him over the head with something. "You can bring us back where we could be able to help Claire and Mr. Petrelli."

Peter chuckled absent mindedly at her formal reference to Nathan. But he shook his head. "My friend told me that there are rules to this power when he taught me how to use it."  
Ellen glared at him, "What rules?"  
"I don't know. He only told me that there are things that aren't meant to be changed."

Ellen scowled at him in frustration, "Peter, you have the ability to travel through time, you are not God. How can you follow rules to something when you don't even know what they are?" she said sounding exasperated. "Do you have any idea what's going to happen now that both of them are gone?"

Peter considered – he knew the consequences only too well with Nathan's murder and not to mention Sylar now possessing Claire's ability.  
It scared him to death.

"You can have them back, Peter. How can you pass up a chance like that?" she said, putting her hands on his shoulders and looking at him intently. "It's your turn." She continued, "You can fix this."

Peter had lost everything just a few moments ago. His insides felt dead and he didn't believe he had any reason for anything any longer, so why was he spouting off about rules to Ellen? Because it was what he was taught, not a thought of his own.

He looked at her and found that he had no reason to doubt that she was right and felt silly for denying her idea to save the two people he cared for most in this world.  
Taking her fully in his arms, Peter held her in a warm embrace, "What the hell." He said and felt her hold onto him tighter as he left with her.

"Get out of here, Claire!" Nathan was gagging as he tried to breathe in Sylar's grip, his dangling limply off the floor.  
Peter and Ellen opened their eyes. They were in Claire's bedroom. Without a word they released each other and Peter made for the doorway, Ellen close behind him.

"Oh no dear." Ellen watched Claire as she was pushed against the wall and looked at Peter who was concentrating on Sylar and Nathan.

The desk chair that they had left in pieces was now whole and floated smoothly through the air and moved towards Sylar.  
"I'm saving the best for –"  
SMASH!

Sylar's power broke as did the chair over his back scattering dozens of pieces to the floor along with Sylar himself and Nathan as he was released from Sylar's grip.  
Peter wasted no time as he emerged from the doorway and pushed Sylar using Sylar's own stolen power until he slid along the floor and hit the wall with a loud crash.

Ellen moved quickly as Peter went after Sylar and got to Claire who had also dropped to the floor when Sylar's concentration had broken. Claire blinked up at Ellen who was smiling looking as though she might go into hysterics at seeing her.

"Are you alright, sweetie?" Ellen said, helping her up.  
Thuds and crashes could be heard across the room from the opening shots of the battle but Ellen tried to keep her thoughts focused on her main task, the reason she went back in time, to save Claire and her father.

"I'm fine, go help my Dad." Claire said as she sat up, looking a little light headed.  
"Get yourself out of here." Ellen said and left her to do what she asked.

She ducked as a stream of freezing air tossed Peter over her. It died away and Peter appeared to have been untouched by it, a few white flakes remained on the sleeves of his jacket. He hovered above them, his face calm and his eyes bright and he flew back in a charge at Sylar.

Ellen crouched as low as she could, making her way over to Nathan. When she reached him she could see bruises forming along his throat and his eyes were fluttering in and out of focus.  
"Mr. Petrelli, can you hear me?" she said. He tried to look at her but didn't respond.

A fiery blast burst through the room from the fight, its force blew both men off of their feet as Ellen hovered over Nathan in an attempt to protect him from it. She risked a glance and saw Peter come back in from the entry way and Sylar from Claire's bedroom, their hands alight with an orange glow. Ellen could feel the heat from where she was it was so strong.  
"They're going to blow up the freaking building." She muttered in a panic to herself.

"Hello, Ellen." Nathan looked at her lazily, his eyes glazed a bit. His head must have hit the floor harder than she had realized.  
"Mr. Petrelli – Nathan, you've got to come, help me get you up." She took his hand and put her arm under his shoulders and heaved as hard as she could but Nathan, as big of a man as he was moved very little as she tried.

Claire came up behind them and pushed on Nathan's shoulders until he was sitting up. "Let's go, Dad." She said.  
Nathan's focus returned as he saw Claire and he managed to get to his feet under his own power as Peter let out a shrieking yell.

The three of them turned as one person and saw blood streaming down Peter's face from a long cut across his nose and cheek. It seemed to be taking longer to heal than it normally would. Sylar grinned and went after him again, throwing all of his energy into the power he created, but Ellen saw him and released hers as well. Holding up her hand, she let out a jet of current that blocked Sylar's strike and absorbed it until it dissolved in the air.

Sylar glared at the three of them as Nathan began to try and gain some distance between the women and the fray. He was so certain of his victory this time, he could taste it. He would not allow failure again! Period.

"Get to the fire escape girls!" Nathan said as he tried to usher them quickly out of the room. But both Claire and Ellen, worried for Peter were reluctant to leave him alone.

Sylar saw Ellen's eyes fall on Peter instead of him. She cared for Peter but he knew that she thought of Gabriel more. He was certain of it. His vision reddened in the sheer heat of his hatred and pain. He locked his eyes onto Peter who appeared ready for his next strike, wiping the blood from his face onto his sleeve.  
If he, Sylar, lost today then Peter would also lose.

Without another thought, Sylar lifted a large piece of the broken chair – his eyes looking at Peter fully, who braced himself – and launched it with all of the force his mind possessed.

There was a shrill cry of pain and surprise and the room went silent all within a small second.  
Nathan caught her before she fell and held her to him as he knelt down with her. A ring of blood soaked through her shirt around the stick of wood in her chest as Ellen's eyes began to fade, losing their color and focus.

Nathan and Claire's faces blurred and grew fuzzy in front of her, but they were alive, Nathan looking grave and Claire's eyes brimming with tears as they looked down at her. They lived and the thought made her smile weakly.

Sylar and Peter heard her damaged heart slow, Peter shoving broken furniture out of his way as he tried to get to her. She lay in Nathan's arms, her fingers clutching at his pressed shirt as her body stiffened and relaxed as it twitched from the pain and loss of blood. Peter put a hand on her forehead as she took her last breaths, neither of them able to speak. But she didn't have to speak.  
_We did it, Peter, you and I.  
…I can't breathe. It hurts so bad!  
Hi Claire. I love you.  
It's so bright…_

A song entered her mind, a light melody that Peter could hear but didn't recognize. Her heart released on last pump of blood and stopped, the silence of it pounding in Peter's ears.

He turned slowly and faced Sylar once again. Sylar felt the pain as much as Peter did, he believed his was even more intense than what Peter could feel but unlike Peter he allowed himself to feed off of it. With a blinding speed he made a slice across Peter's chest that immediately began to bleed through his shirt ant stopped just as suddenly as it healed itself and pushed him with a fantastic force against the wall.

Peter's mind took a moment to recover and he felt the tingling in his fingers, a feeling he hadn't allowed himself to have since the night he met Ellen. The feeling grew until Peter lifted his hands and unleashed the full power Ellen had given him until the room was filled and overflowing with a blinding white light. Claire and Nathan covered their eyes as Sylar yelled and allowed his power to fly in every direction around him.

The End.


	14. Chapter 14

Epilogue  
The piano began at a slow lull in a low chord and the lights brightened on the stage as she began to sing. _Somewhere Over the Rainbow_ – a tune he recognized and adored when she sang it. Though he had heard it several times by then he never tired of it.

Peter brought his drink to his lips and took a sip, watching her from his seat at his usual table in the corner. He had dressed up this time, wearing a black button down shirt and matching slacks. Sliding back in his chair, he set the glass back on the tabletop when he saw a close movement out of the corner of his eye.

"I thought I'd find you here." Said a very familiar voice.  
Peter's face fell into a frown, "What are you doing here?" he grumbled as he looked up at him.  
Hiro sat in a chair next to him, "Claire's been worried about you." He answered simply, taking a closer look at Peter's drink.

Peter scoffed, "What's her reason this time?"  
Hiro studied him carefully for a moment, his eyes narrowed and thoughtful when Peter tore his eyes away from the stage and glared at him, "You are aware that I can hear your thoughts." He said. It wasn't for Hiro's information, it was a threat – an empty threat as far as Hiro was concerned.

He smiled slyly, "Good. Then I don't have to say anything else, do I?"

Peter cursed the day Claire started helping Hiro with his English. He had become more articulate than anyone should ever have allowed and therefore, it led to him being a smart ass in two languages.

"How many times have you come here?" Hiro pressed on, unaffected by Peter's stony expression.  
"A few."

Hiro watched her on the stage as she sang. Her hair was done up away from her face into a curly mass of ebony on the top of her head and her dress was simple, black, fitted, and trailed down to the floor in a light fabric skirt. "She's very pretty." He observed.

Peter nodded only once and caught her eye. Hiro saw recognition on her face – she smiled broadly at Peter before she looked away, continuing her song.  
Hiro pursed his lips as he controlled his first instinctive action which was to smack Peter upside the head. "She knows you? Here and now?" he said, his voice sounding baffled yet he wasn't exactly surprised.

"It's not like she ever got the chance to know me later." Peter snapped back.

Hiro sighed and looked helplessly between the two of them. He wanted to scold Peter – to tell him that what he was doing was pointless and would only add to the pain he felt when he saw her die. Hiro's logic was telling him he should say something, but he couldn't. If he did he knew very well it would make him a liar because he already knew exactly how Peter felt. If he said anything like that to Peter Hiro felt he would be dishonoring his memory of Charlie.

"You cannot save her, Peter." He said quietly.  
Peter's eyes snapped to the face of his friend but he said nothing and looked back to the stage.  
"How many times did you try?" Hiro continued. "Don't you remember? Even I came with you because you asked me and you are my friend. But I also had to watch her die."

Peter clenched his jaw and still said nothing. His mind replayed the dozen scenes of her death that he witnessed. It killed him as well. Those blank staring eyes, they haunted him as he slept at night and throughout the day. They never left him.  
Yet nothing he did brought her back.

"It's dangerous for both of you." Hiro continued.   
"Please spare me your _Back to the Future_ theories, Hiro." Peter said. "Nothing I do will cause the cosmos to explode. Besides, she doesn't know anything." he spoke calmly, his eyes always watching her.

"That won't last very long if you keep this up." Hiro retorted, sounding slightly hurt. "And her future has already changed because she knows you now."

Peter didn't say any more and applauded with the rest of the clusters of people sitting at tables throughout the room at the end of her song. He watched her bow and smile, gesturing to her accompanist until the applause died down.  
She put a microphone close to her mouth and spoke in a low voice, "Ladies and Gentlemen – jazz selections by Craig Shelton on the piano." She indicated her accompanist who nodded to her when the lights died down around her and were brought up on him. She stepped off the stage onto the main floor as he began to play.

"Do you think I should tell her?" Peter glanced sideways at Hiro.  
Hiro saw her coming towards their table, her eyes bright and starry as she saw Peter stand up to meet her. "I don't know. It'd be hard – " Hiro stopped and thought of Charlie again, a small nipping in his chest as the image of her came to mind. Charlie had genuinely accepted him and his story without any hesitation or judgment whether she believed it or not.

_He came…and looks fantastic._  
"Hi," she said brightly as Peter embraced her tightly, "You made it!" she said, kissing him on the cheek as he held her.

Hiro stood when Peter finally let her go and her eyes fell on him. She looked between the two of them, her eyebrows raised expectantly until Peter realized what was going on.  
"Oh, sorry. This is my good friend, Hiro Nakamura. Hiro, this is Ellen Warren."

Hiro gave her a small bow out of his habit of tradition and took her hand when she offered it in a greeting. "You have a very pretty voice." He said.  
Ellen blushed a little and mimicked his bow, "Thank you, Hiro." She said. "Great name." she looked at Peter who did his best to avoid rolling his eyes.

The notes of the piano tinkled gently and a few couples left their tables and began to sway to the music in center of the room, holding their partners close.  
Peter slipped his hand into hers, "Dance?" he said.

_Yes, please._  
"Absolutely. It was good to meet you Hiro." She said before allowing Peter to lead her to the dance floor.

Hiro bowed again and watched as they left him at the table.  
Peter took her onto the floor and pulled her to him, placing his hand on her back and hers on his shoulder. The touch of her made him tremble down to his feet every time and this time was no different. Every breath of her made him high and holding her close as he did made him believe he didn't have to dream at all anymore.

"So, how was it really?" she said allowing Peter his tired and exasperated expressions, "Was the balance alright?"  
She was quite serious but Peter couldn't help but chuckle, "It was lovely Ellen, as it always is." He brought their clasped hands in and rested them on his chest. "I could listen to your voice forever."

"Now you're just sucking up." she smiled.  
"Of course." He admitted. "That is what you do when you try to get someone to like you."  
"I already like you, Peter. But now I do see that I'll have to start asking someone else about my performances because of how biased you're becoming."

Ellen looked over Peter's shoulder and saw Hiro who seemed to be genuinely interested in the light fixtures hanging from the ceiling.  
Peter heard a sort of inward laugh from her mind.  
"Your friend is cute." She teased.  
Peter narrowed his eyes at her and she looked back as innocently as possible. "Seriously." she said, "I think he's adorable. How long have you known him?"  
Peter let out a small sigh, "It seems longer than it actually has been."  
Ellen laughed, making him smile.

They were silent for a moment or two, Peter leading her along the dance floor and spinning her about, making her laugh as he goofed around with her.  
When he pulled her in the thought that he would have to leave soon entered his mind, "I wish we could stay like this." He muttered.

"Me too." Ellen said. "Mostly because I can never tell when I'll see you again."  
Peter frowned.  
"It's true, Peter. I see you once or twice a week, sometimes every two weeks and you're nowhere to be found in between times." She lifted his bangs away from his eyes. "Where do you run off to?"

Peter caught Hiro's look and they seemed to have an entire conversation between the two of them before Peter spoke to Ellen again.  
He leaned in until their faces were next to each other, "I'll tell you if you promise not to tell anyone." He whispered in her ear.

Ellen pulled away, smiling as though he was joking until she saw how serious he was. Her face fell and she looked curiously at him, "I promise."  
_He works for the CIA or something._  
She looked at him and waited patiently as he slowed their dance down until they stood together on the floor, barely moving.  
_Just tell me._

How could he confess that he'd been slipping about through time for her? He could barely believe it himself until a sort of revelation came into his mind in that second and it allowed everything he did to make perfect sense in his mind.

He kissed her forehead, "Before I say anything you need to know something first -before you can know anything else."  
"Tell me." She said gently.

Peter hesitated, his nerves sparking when he looked at her. It was true but saying it made it even more so, "I believe that I love you, Ellen." He put two fingers to her mouth in order to keep her silent as he spoke. Her thoughts were enough for him.

_Red flag! Red flag! ...is he crazy?_  
Though her thoughts seemed to be in a panicked frenzy, her face was calm and she was focused on him – most importantly, she wasn't screaming and running out of the room. He wouldn't have blamed her of course. To her, his confession would be incredibly sudden. She took it well.

"I understand what you must be thinking, but it is true. There isn't any other way I can say it." He smiled hopelessly.  
"Now, tell me," he continued, "if you could travel to any time in the world, any place, where would you go?"  
Ellen blinked at the strange path the conversation was going and didn't say anything.

"You don't have to answer right away – " Peter paused as a thought occurred to him – a plan, a way to keep Ellen alive. Hiro would kill him for even thinking it.  
"But, what would you say if I told you I could take you there?"  
"Anywhere?" Ellen said as she mulled his last few sentences over in her mind.  
"Anywhere."  
"From right here?"  
"Absolutely."  
"I would have to say you were crazy. What are you getting at, Peter? What's wrong?"

The song ended. He watched the couple move back to the table across the room from him as Craig started up another number.

The waitress had been avoiding his table for a while now but it didn't care at the moment. He had made certain to keep his thoughts clear and his location in the shadow of the room so as to avoid any contact with Peter, though he believed that Peter would have a difficult time in recognizing him anyway – it had been so long.

He rubbed a hand over his full beard that was dark and closely trimmed to his face. To any onlooker he would have appeared to be a gentleman in his late thirties, perhaps early forties with touches of gray at his temples though his hair was dark and long so it tickled the back of his neck and fell forward over his forehead if he allowed it.

He continued to watch them – Ellen, her hand resting on the table and Peter placing his over it. She was just as he remembered her only lovelier and happier. She spoke kindly to that little man who appeared to have become only more pathetic since their last meeting in this timeline. As he was now, it was so many years ago, but he remembered it well.

His waitress finally braved coming to the table with the mysteriously shadowed stranger in the long black coat.   
"Anything to drink…sir?" she said, doing quite well at keeping her nerves from affecting her voice.

She relaxed as she was met with dark brown eyes that warmed as he smiled at her, "No, thank you dear." He said kindly.


End file.
